Sanfrecce Hiroshima vs Nagoya Grampus

Edion Stadium Hiroshima is the venue as Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Nagoya Grampus go head-to-head in a tasty-looking J1 League showdown.

Since falling to a 2-1 home defeat to Kashiwa Reysol in early May, Hiroshima have gone unbeaten in their last three J1 League fixtures (W2, D1), keeping two clean sheets in the process. The ‘Sanfrecce’ will feel confident about registering another shutout, having recorded a blank sheet in their three previous home league meetings with Nagoya (W3). Curiously, since drawing 1-1 win Vissel Kobe in ealy March, none of Hiroshima’s last eight competitive home fixtures have ended level (W5, L3), with 62.5% of them seeing the winner on the day keep a clean sheet.

On the other hand, despite Nagoya’s indifferent start to the season (W5, D5, L5), they head into proceedings amid a purple patch. The visitors have gone from going winless in three consecutive league matches (D1, L2) to winning the last three J1 League fixtures in a row by an aggregate score of 4-1. However, before pulling off a 2-1 win at Shimizu S-Pulse on their most recent J1 League travel, Nagoya had gone winless in their opening six away league games (D2, L4), averaging just 0.5 goals per match.