Preview: Shonan Bellmare vs. Sagan Tosu - prediction, team news, lineups

Shonan Bellmare will attempt to end a 10-game winless streak when they host Sagan Tosu on Saturday at the Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka.

Meanwhile, the visitors are unbeaten in their last six league outings, but will be eager to bounce back from a heavy defeat in the J-League Cup.

Match preview

Shonan Bellmare are currently languishing in 17th place in the J1 League table after picking up just 12 points from 16 games so far this season, and only remain outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

Satoshi Yamaguchi's men have recorded two victories in the top flight this season, and the most recent of those two wins took place against Gamba Osaka on April 1.

Since claiming a 4-1 victory over Gamba Osaka, Shonan Bellmare have picked up just four points in a 10-game winless league run.

However, one positive for Yamaguchi's side is that they did advance to the third round of the Emperor's Cup during this run, with a resounding 6-1 victory over BTOP Hokkaido.

Shonan Bellmare remain the only side in the J1 League yet to register a clean sheet this season, so they will be eager to produce a sturdy defensive display in a bid to end this torrid run of form.

Meanwhile, Sagan Tosu enter this weekend unbeaten in their last six league outings, leaving them in 10th place in the standings, with 23 points from 17 games.

However, the visitors were brought crashing back down to earth in their final J-League Cup group game after being on the receiving end of a 6-1 hammering from Yokohama F Marinos, so Kenta Kawai will be eager to see his side respond this weekend.

Sagan's last defeat in the league came against Kawasaki on May 7, and since that defeat, Kawai's side have picked up 12 points from the following six matches.

However, Sagan Tosu have not thrived in front of goal yet this season, which is clear by the fact they have scored fewer than any of the other teams in the top half.

Team News

The hosts will still be unable to call upon the services of Shuto Yamamoto and Masaki Ikeda, although Naoki Yamada did return to the side against Kawasaki last time out.

Yuki Ohashi looks set to spearhead the attack, particularly after bagging a brace last weekend, while Song Bum-keun will start between the sticks.

As for the visitors, Yoichi Naganuma is the club's top scorer in the league with five goals, and he will be looking to add to his tally here.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the park So Kawahara is likely to be the driving force for the team, playing every minute so far in the J1 League.

Shonan Bellmare possible starting lineup:

Song; Tachi, Oiwa, Ono; Okamoto, Onose, Barada, Hata, Elyounoussi; Machino, Ohashi

Sagan Tosu possible starting lineup:

Il-Gyu; Harada, Hwang, Yamazaki, Kikuchi; Moriya, Kawahara, Tezuka; Iwasaki, Naganuma, Ono

We say: Shonan Bellmare 0-1 Sagan Tosu

Shonan Bellmare have only won one game in the league in front of their home fans so far this campaign, so we can see the away team prevailing here.

Sagan Tosu do not tend to score many goals, so this could be a close encounter, but we expect the visitors to have too much quality this weekend.

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