Fourth-placed Vissel Kobe will be looking to close the gap on the top three when they face J1 League leaders Machida Zelvia at the NOEVIR Stadium Kobe on Wednesday.
The hosts are four points behind the second and third-placed sides, who are set to face off on Wednesday, while the visitors hold a two-point lead at the top of the table.
Match preview
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Vissel Kobe have had an extremely inconsistent couple of seasons in recent years, placing third in 2021 before dropping to 13th in 2022 followed by sensationally winning their first J1 League title last term.
A positive start to this campaign saw Takayuki Yoshida's men occupy the top spot once again after 14 fixtures, but only one win in the last five games has seen them drop to fourth.
Despite a dominant performance against third-placed Gamba Osaka in their last outing, Vissel Kobe fell to a 2-1 defeat, leaving them four points outside the top three.
The Cows have another chance to make ground up on those above them on Wednesday though as they face first-placed Machida Zelvia while Gamba Osaka play second-placed Kashima Antlers.
Vissel Kobe would have to vastly improve upon their home results this campaign if they are to take anything away from this game as they taken 13 points from nine home fixtures, landing them 11th in the table for results at home.
Machida Zelvia, on the other hand, are phenomenally top of the table in their first-ever appearance in the J1 League after earning promotion last campaign.
Their away form is a large reason behind their success so far as they are the best-performing team when playing on the road with 22 points taken from a possible 27, while they have accumulated the fourth-highest points tally when playing at home.
A defeat and a draw sandwiched around a victory in their last three fixtures is their worst run of results since losing two in three in early April, a run that included a 2-1 defeat to Wednesday's opponents.
While they have never beaten Vissel Kobe, with the defeat earlier in the campaign being the only meeting between the two, Go Kuroda's side will fancy their chances in this one thanks to their outstanding away record this year.
Team News
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Despite losing in their last match against Gamba Osaka, Yoshida could opt to name the same starting side after a positive performance that saw them dominate large parts of the match.
After being forced off with an injury in the game against Kawasaki Frontale just under two weeks ago, Thuler managed to play all 90 minutes in the last one, and the defender is expected to start once again here.
As for the visitors, they are carrying a number of injuries into Wednesday's fixture with Jang Min-kyu, Takuya Yasui, Mitchell Duke and Na Sang-ho all out.
Henry Heroki Mochizuki was also forced off with an injury problem in the final minutes of their 0-0 draw last time out, and the defender is a doubt for this one.
Vissel Kobe possible starting lineup:
Maekawa; Sakai, Yamakawa, Thuler, Hatsuse; Yamaguchi, Ogihara, Ide; Muto, Osako, Sasaki
Machida Zelvia possible starting lineup:
Tani; Suzuki, Dresevic, Shoji, Hayashi; Vasquez, Sento, Shimoda, Hirakawa; Fujio, Erik
We say: Vissel Kobe 1-2 Machida Zelvia
Vissel Kobe have been rather underwhelming when playing at home so far this campaign, while no one has been better than Machida Zelvia when playing on the road, and for that reason, we believe the visitors will win this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
