Yokohama vs Urawa Reds

J1 League basement boys Yokohama entertain top-three hopefuls Urawa Reds at the Mitsuzawa Stadium.

Despite beginning this round rooted to the foot of the J1 League table, Yokohama’s battle against relegation is still alive and kicking as they sit level on points with the two fellow rivals Kashiwa Reysol and Shonan Bellmare. However, the hosts must pick themselves up after going from two consecutive league victories to back-to-back defeats, both of which saw them concede beyond the 60th minute. There’s no better place to embark on their resurgence mission than the Mitsuzawa Stadium, considering they had won three successive home outings in all competitions before succumbing to a 2-1 defeat to Sagan Tosu last time out. But a lack of firepower that has witnessed Shuhei Yomoda’s team net under 1.5 goals in 11 of their 12 competitive home games in 2023 could be a problem.

Speaking of scoring problems, visiting Urawa have drawn a blank in two straight fixtures in the run-up to this travel (D2), though they overcame lower-league Kansai in midweek Emperor’s Cup action after extra-time. Even though they come into proceedings unbeaten in their last five league outings (W3, D2), the ‘Reds’ still have ground to make to return into the AFC Champions League qualification race as they trail third-placed Nagoya Grampus by four points. On a more positive note, after three successive away league draws, Urawa eked out a 2-0 win at Kyoto Sanga on their most recent travel and could register back-to-back top-flight victories on the road for only the second time this season.