Avispa Fukuoka vs Yokohama F. Marinos

Avispa Fukuoka and Yokohama F. Marinos are set to square off at the Best Denki Stadium in a handsomely-looking J1 League showdown.

Before falling to a somewhat expected 2-0 defeat at reigning champions Kawasaki Frontale, Avispa Fukuoka had enjoyed a stellar four-game unbeaten league streak (W2, D2). Shigetoshi Hasebe has based his side’s successful spell of form on a rock-solid backline that kept a clean sheet in three of their four unbeaten J1 League fixtures across the four-match unbeaten span. Though we are still early in the season, the ‘Hachi’ are well on course to establish themselves as the ‘stalemate specialists’ after sharing the spoils in five of their seven top-flight home matches (W1, D5, L1). With four of those five draws yielding a blunt ‘nil-nil’ scoreline, the Best Denki Stadium crowd could be in for another low-scoring contest.

Yokohama Marinos have shown that last season’s second-place finish in Japan’s top division was no fluke. After the opening 13 rounds of matches, the ‘Marinos’ sit only four points adrift of pacesetters Kawasaki Frontale, having gone unbeaten in 11 top-flight games thus far (W7, D4, L2). Despite their impressive start to the season, Kevin Muscat’s men may show up in Fukuoka in a poor mental condition after letting a 3-0 half-time lead slip through their fingers away to Urawa Reds last time out (3-3). Yet, the visitors will be happy to know that last week’s draw at the Saitama Stadium is part of their eye-catching four-match unbeaten league streak (W3, D1), during which they have netted a resounding average of three goals per match.