Urawa W vs Cerezo Osaka W

Kanseki Stadium is the venue as Urawa W and Cerezo Osaka W go head-to-head in their Emperor’s Cup semi-final tie.

Since falling to a 2-0 defeat to Inac Kobe Leonesa W in early November, Urawa W have gone unbeaten in their last four competitive games (W3, D1), with two of those three victories yielding a two-goal margin. Coming into this tie, the hosts have won both Emperor’s Cup ties without conceding, with each of their three goals scored in that period arriving beyond the 79th minute. Curiously, none of Urawa’s six competitive home matches since the start of 2021 have ended level (W4, L2). Scoring first could be of the essence, considering each of those six fixtures won/lost saw the side to open the scoring go on to pick up a victory.

After making light work of Fujieda Junshin High School W in their inaugural Emperor’s Cup fixture (4-0), Cerezo Osaka W have squeezed past Nojima Stella W and Sanfrecce Hiroshima W in the last two rounds. Having won both ties via a narrow one-goal margin, the visitors are now unbeaten in nine competitive games on the trot (W7, D2), returning five clean sheets in the process. Adding to their confidence, Takashi Nakamura’s players have avoided defeat in five consecutive road trips in all competitions (W3, D2) since losing 2-1 to Ehime W in August 2021. Yet, a lack of firepower up front has seen them score precisely once in three of their last four competitive travels.