Kyoto Sanga take on Nagoya Grampus at the Sanga Stadium by KYOCERA on Sunday evening, in the latest round of J1 League fixtures.
The hosts are sitting in 15th place, just seven points above the bottom three, while the visitors are battling for the league title, currently up in third.
Match preview
Kyoto Sanga have collected just 20 points from their opening 20 J-League games, but they are in no real danger of being dragged into the relegation battle at the moment, given that just one team are relegated from the J-League.
Sanga have managed to steer themselves clear of trouble with their recent results, having collected eight points from their last four games, winning their last home match 2-1 after a late turnaround against a struggling Yokohama FC side.
Cho Kwi-jae's side have improved in recent weeks, but they were unable to pick up a positive result in their last match, falling to a 1-0 defeat away at Gamba Osaka, with Yuya Fukuda scoring the only goal of the game in the second half.
In the reverse fixture earlier this season, Kyoto Sanga lost 1-0 away at Vantelin Dome Nagoya, and they have failed to win in their last five matches against Sunday's opponents, so they will have their work cut out again this weekend.
Not only that, Nagoya Grampus have been very solid so far this season, and they are still in a good position to win their first league title since 2010, currently four points off top-of-the-table Yokohama F Marinos.
Nagoya have the joint-best home record in the division, but they have not been among the J1 League's best sides on the road, having collected 16 points from their nine away games so far, losing 2-0 against FC Tokyo in their most recent match on their travels.
Kenta Hasegawa's side drew their most recent J1 League game 2-2 at home against Yokohama F Marinos, but they had more than enough opportunities to win the game in the second half, with a late effort from Mateus being ruled out for offside.
As it stands, Grampus are two points clear of fourth-placed Urawa, meaning they are currently on course to qualify for the AFC Champions League, and they are also on track to potentially win their first Emperor's Cup since 1999.
Last time out, Hasegawa's side needed penalties to get past J2 League side Vegalta Sendai, but Mitchell Langerak saved their opponents' crucial fifth penalty, booking their place in the round of 16 against Urawa Red Diamonds at the beginning of August.
Team News
Kyoto Sanga have been poor for much of the current campaign, but Patric is having a fantastic season on a personal level, having scored eight league goals, and it would not be a surprise to see the Brazilian striker return to the starting lineup this weekend.
Kosuke Kinoshita has been in very poor form as of late, failing to score in his last seven matches in all competitions, and the 28-year-old could drop to the bench, but Kwi-jae is unlikely to make many other changes to his side, as their form has picked up recently.
Having been in Emperor's Cup action last time out, Nagoya Grampus could return to a more familiar starting lineup on Sunday, with top-scorer Kasper Junker poised to return at striker, replacing Noriyoshi Sakai in the starting lineup.
Mateus is also set to regain his place in the side, with the winger scoring after being brought on as a substitute on Wednesday, while Akinari Kawazura is likely to get the nod at centre-back, having been rested last time out.
Kyoto Sanga possible starting lineup:
Ota; Fukuda, Inoue, Asada, Sato; Kaneko, Kawasaki, Matsuda; Tokokawa, Kinoshita, Patric
Nagoya Grampus possible starting lineup:
Langerak; Fujii, Nakatani, Kawazura; Izumi, Inagaki, Yonemoto, Morishita; Nagai, Castro, Junker
We say: Kyoto Sanga 0-2 Nagoya Grampus
Nagoya Grampus should have no trouble breezing past a Kyoto Sanga side who have been very poor for large parts of the season.
As such, we expect the visitors to record a 2-0 victory, which will keep them firmly in the hunt for top spot.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Dominic Lund
