Nagoya Grampus vs Kawasaki Frontale 23/08/20

23 August 2020

Nagoya Grampus will be looking to stretch their unbeaten J1 League run against Kawasaki Frontale to three (W1, D1) when the two sides lock horns at Toyota Stadium this weekend.

A narrow 1-0 away win over Shonan Bellmare last time out now means that none of Nagoya’s previous seven league fixtures has ended in a draw (W5, L2). The ‘clean-sheet’ theme has been of tremendous importance in the context of their results during that seven-game sequence, as six of those outcomes (wins/losses) saw the winner on the day shut out the loser, with four yielding the identical 1-0 FT scoreline. In turn, all four of their previous top-flight H2Hs held at this venue have witnessed the winning side keep a blank sheet (W1, L3). Curiously, Massimo Ficcadenti’s men have been quite prolific before the break, with seven of their nine J1 League goals scored so far arriving in the first half of play.

Meanwhile, Kawasaki’s unstoppable league run continues as they swept aside Cerezo Osaka 5-2 at home last time out, extending their winning J1 League streak to ten. Additionally, the abovementioned victory also means that the visitors won all three of their top-flight games in which they shipped the opening goal. Kawasaki’s free-flowing attack is the only one to smash a 30-goal barrier after the opening 11 rounds of league fixtures, managing an impressive average of 3.09 goals scored per J1 League match. Moreover, 55.88% (19) of their 34 goals scored thus far came away from home, with Toru Oniki’s team netting over 2.5 goals in four of five league trips this term.