Urawa Reds vs Shonan Bellmare

Urawa Reds’ bid to close the gap on the J1 League top three faces a relatively straightforward challengee as beleaguered Shonan Bellmare arrive at Saitama Stadium.

Things have started going Urawa’s way of late, as they’ve won their last two league outings ‘to nil’ after going winless in five beforehand (D3, L2). However, there’s no room for complacency. With third-placed Kashima Antlers six points off, there’s plenty of heavy lifting to be done for Per-Mathias Hogmo’s underperforming side. Urawa thrashed Jubilo Iwata 3-0 in their last home league game to end a three-game winless run at Saitama Stadium (D2, L1) and could win back-to-back home league fixtures for only the second time this season. Visiting Shonan Bellmare could provide an opening, with the Red Devils winning their last two top-flight H2Hs at this venue via multi-goal margins. Since both those victories saw Urawa break the deadlock within 20 minutes, a quick-fire start could be on the cards.

On the other hand, Shonan Bellmare conceded inside the opening 25 minutes of their home clash against Kyoto last time out, which condemned them to a 1-0 defeat and a sixth successive league game without a win (D2, L4). Satoshi Yamaguchi’s misfiring men have netted under 1.5 goals across their last five league matches. Indeed, only three J1 League teams have scored fewer goals than Shonan’s 25 this term, though it’s worth noting that 56% of those strikes came on the road (14/25). But that’s been insufficient to make up for their notorious defensive problems, resulting in Shonan winning just once on their 11 league travels (W1, D5, L5). If it’s any comfort, they’ve drawn their last two away league matches 1-1.