Sports Mole previews Saturday’s J1 League clash between Nagoya Grampus and Tokyo Verdy, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two teams currently struggling in the bottom half of the Japanese J1 League standings will square off this weekend, when Nagoya Grampus host Tokyo Verdy on Saturday.
Both teams are tied on 27 points, but they are separated by two places in the standings, ahead of this weekend’s fixture.
Match preview
Nagoya Grampus will head into this fixture looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since the end of May, when they claimed consecutive victories against Urawa Reds and Albirex Niigata in the league.
The hosts, who are 13th in the table after 22 fixtures in the Japanese top division, are on the hunt for two straight wins for the first time since the end of May.
Although they recorded three straight wins across all competitions between the end of May and late June, they have claimed only a solitary win, a draw and a loss in their last three league matches.
However, the home side are unbeaten in their last four league fixtures in front of their fans, and they can draw some inspiration from that run on their stomping ground.
Elsewhere, Tokyo Verdy snapped a three-game winless streak following a 1-0 victory over Kawasaki Frontale in their last league exertion.
That result meant that they claimed their first league victory since May 25, an outcome which leaves them 15th in the standings.
That said, the visitors have struggled on the road, having failed to win away from home in their last four league fixtures.
And in those four matches, they struggled to keep the opposing teams at bay, conceding six goals in that time.
However, they registered a 2-1 triumph in their last meeting, and that could serve as a motivation for the visiting side in their next meeting this weekend.
Nagoya Grampus J1 League form:
Nagoya Grampus form (all competitions):
Tokyo Verdy J1 League form:
Tokyo Verdy form (all competitions):
Team News
The hosts have a clean bill of health, and the manager will not have a selection headache going into this fixture.
As a result of that, the manager is likely to send out the same side that started in their win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima last weekend.
Sho Inagaki, who has nine goal involvements, is sure to keep his place in the first team.
For the visitors, Goki Yamada is still out injured, and he will not be a part of the travelling squad.
Besides Yamada, there are no new injury reports, and the manager could send out a familiar XI this weekend.
Nagoya Grampus possible starting lineup:
Pisano; Hara, Mikuni, Nogami; Izumi, Inagaki, Shihaashi, Tokumoto; Morishima, Mateus; Yamaguchi
Tokyo Verdy possible starting lineup:
Vidotto; Taniguchi, Tsunashima, Miyahara; Fukazawa, Morita, Hirakawai, Onaga; Saito, Fukuda; Arai
We say: Nagoya Grampus 1-1 Tokyo Verdy
Both sides have similar forms going into this contest, and there is not much to separate these two teams; therefore, we back both sides to play out a 1-1 draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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