Vissel Kobe vs Kawasaki Frontale

Noevir Stadium is the venue as Vissel Kobe and Kawasaki Frontale go head-to-head in a handsomely-looking J1 League showdown.

It’s been a thoroughly underwhelming start to the season for Kobe, as they head into proceedings languishing in the drop zone after picking up just one win from the opening 12 league matches (D4, L7). Kobe’s scintillating 4-0 romping of Sagan Tosu last time out has halted their frustrating run of four consecutive J1 League defeats, three of which yielded a two-goal margin. In order to stay on the upwards trajectory, Miguel Angel Lotina’s men have to defy their five-match winless H2H league streak against Kawasaki (D2, L3). Conceding first could lead to another sub-par result for the ‘Ushi,’ who have ended up on the losing side in all five league games in which they let in the opening goal this term.

Kawasaki have bounced back from back-to-back league outings without a single triumph (D1, L1) by racking up a three-game winning run without conceding. The defending J1 League champions have won their last two league fixtures by the identical 2-0 scoreline. However, Kawasaki’s problems with inconsistent showings on the road have seen them alternate between winning (3) and not winning (D2, L1) across their opening six league travels. Yet, Toru Oniki’s lads have continuously delivered the goods in the front third, netting precisely two goals in five of those six road trips. They will feel confident about improving their scoring tally after bagging 2+ goals in five of their six previous competitive visits to Kobe. But it’s worth noting that Kawasaki had failed to score before half-time in three consecutive league trips before putting two unanswered first-half goals past Shimizu S-Pulse last time out.