Preview: Kawasaki Frontale vs. Sanfrecce Hiroshima - prediction, team news, lineups

Kawasaki Frontale will welcome Sanfrecce Hiroshima to the Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium for Sunday's J1 League contest.

The hosts are currently sitting in 10th position in the top flight, while Hiroshima are eight points better off in fourth place.

Match preview

After suffering three consecutive defeats, Kawasaki returned to winning ways last weekend, claiming a 2-0 victory over Kashiwa Reysol thanks to goals from Yu Kobayashi and Kyohei Noborizato.

Toru Oniki's recorded another positive result in midweek, beating Tochigi City 3-1 to advance to the third round of the Emperor's Cup.

Kawasaki will return to league action this weekend, and they will be looking to extend their unbeaten home run to four league matches.

They also hope to continue their impressive head-to-head record against Sanfrecce, avoiding defeat in their last seven meetings (W5, D2).

The home side will have fond memories of their most recent home game against Sunday's opponents, which resulted in a comfortable 4-0 victory in September.

Like their hosts, Sanfrecce will also head into Sunday's encounter off the back of consecutive victories in the league and cup.

A Yusuke Chajima brace and Takumu Kawamura strike guided Sanfrecce to a 3-1 win over Kyoto Sanga in the J1 League last weekend.

They enjoyed another successful outing in midweek, easing to a 5-0 victory against fifth-tier FC Tokushima to book their place in the third round of the Emperor's Cup.

The visitors will now turn their attention back to league matters, and they enter the weekend in fourth position with four points separating them from the top of the table.

If they are to claim a positive result, Sanfrecce will need to end a run of three consecutive away defeats in the top flight.

Team News

The hosts are expected to be without the services of Shuto Tanabe, Marcinho and Jesiel, who are sidelined with injury issues.

After making wholesale changes for the midweek cup win, Oniki is expected to name a lineup similar to the one that started against Kashiwa last weekend.

Daiya Tono netted a brace in Wednesday's win over Tochigi City, and he could retain his place in the starting XI for Sunday's encounter.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon the injured trio of Makoto Mitsuta, Pieros Sotiriou and Tsukasa Shiotani.

Tsukasa Shiotani is expected to name a back three made up of Jelani Reshaun Sumiyoshi, Hayato Araki and Sho Sasaki.

Douglas Vieira is expected to lead the line for Sanfrecce, and he will be looking to add to his six-goal league tally.

Kawasaki Frontale possible starting lineup:

Kamifukumoto; Yamane, Ominami, Kurumaya, Noborizato; Wakizaka, Schmidt, Oshima; Ienaga, Tono, Miyashiro

Sanfrecce Hiroshima possible starting lineup:

Osako; Sumiyoshi, Araki, Sasaki; Chajima, Notsuda, Matsumoto, Higashi; Morishima, Kawamura, Vieira

We say: Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Kawasaki have won their last two home league matches, and we think that they will pick up all three points on Sunday when they play host to Sanfrecce, who have lost their previous three competitive away games.

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