Two title challengers will face off on Saturday when Nagoya Grampus welcomes Yokohama F Marinos to the Toyota Stadium.

The home side are currently sitting in second place in the J1 League table, with four points separating from their opponents, who lead the way after 19 games.

Match preview

After enjoying a run of five consecutive victories in all competitions, Nagoya's fine spell of form was brought to an end by a 2-0 defeat to Tokyo.

However, they quickly picked themselves up from their third league defeat of the season to return to winning ways against Kawasaki Frontale last weekend.

Goals from Kasper Junker and Ryuji Izumi guided Nagoya to all three points, with the 2-0 victory representing their fifth consecutive home win in the top flight.

The result also ensured that Nagoya are just one of two teams - alongside Saturday's opponents - that are yet to lose a home game in the J1 League this season.

They have been in fine goalscoring touch in recent matches at the Toyota Stadium, registering at least two goals in their last four home league games.

Meanwhile, Yokohama are firmly in contention to retain the J1 League title after collecting 42 points from their 19 matches.

Since losing to Albirex Niigata on May 14, the league leaders have embarked on a six-game winning run in the top flight.

In their most recent outing, Yokohama eased to a 4-1 victory over Shonan Bellmare thanks to an Anderson Lopes brace, as well as strikes from Ken Matsubara and Asahi Uenaka.

After performing well in the final third last weekend, Yokohama are now the highest scorers in the top flight with 42 goals to their name.

They recorded their fifth consecutive home win on Sunday, and they will now turn their focus to Saturday's contest where they will be aiming to clinch a third successive away victory.

Team News

The hosts are still expected to be without the services of Noriyoshi Sakai and Yuichi Maruyama due to injury issues.

After being recalled to the starting lineup for the win over Kawasaki, Akinari Kawazura is set to retain his place in the back three alongside Shinnosuke Nakatani and Haruya Fujii.

Junker has scored 10 goals in 19 league appearances this season, and he will be hoping to continue his fine form on Saturday.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon the injured trio of Ryuta Koike, Ryotaro Tsunoda and Hiroki Iikora.

There are doubts surrounding the availability of Takuya Kida and Ryo Miyaichi after the pair missed the win over Shonan.

Anderson Lopes, who has registered four braces in his last five appearances, is currently the top scorer in the J1 League, and he will be looking to add to his 15-goal league goal tally when he leads the line against Nagoya.

Nagoya Grampus possible starting lineup:
Langerak; Fujii, Nakatani, Kawazura; Izumi, Uchida, Inagaki, Morishita; Mateus; Junker, Nagai

Yokohama F Marinos possible starting lineup:
Ichimori; Matsubara, Kamijima, Eduardo, Koike; Fujita, Watanabe; Yan, Nishimura, Elber; Lopes

We say: Nagoya Grampus 1-1 Yokohama F Marinos

The two title challengers played out a 1-1 draw when they faced off in April's reverse fixture, and we think that the two closely-matched sides could replicate that result in Saturday's encounter.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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