Urawa Red Diamonds vs. Kawasaki Frontale - preview

This game has all the potential to be the showpiece in contemporary Japanese football. It’s equivalent to last year’s Premier League meeting between Arsenal and Leicester City. It’s late in the season, both teams have lost relatively few matches and they share the spoils at the top of the table. At present Urawa Red Diamonds top the second stage table by a mere three points whilst Kawasaki Frontale are ahead in the overall table, but only by a slender two point margin. This game will have major implications on both tables and who tops them.

Urawa Red Diamonds are unbeaten throughout the whole second stage so far, having won seven games and drawn just the one. This achievement has seen them top the standings for this stage as they welcome their closest opposition to the Saitama stadium. A large part of the team’s success this stage has been down their attacking aptitude. Shinzo Koroki played a major part in the earlier games, before joining the Olympic team in Rio; he had netted a goal ten times before his international duty took place and fans will be hoping for him to return to the club as soon as possible. If he’s not back in time for the weekend, the goal threat is still in good hands as Tadanari Lee and Yuki Muto have scored seventeen betwixt them. The latter having scored four goals in his last three matches is enjoying a very rich form in front of goal as he continues to contribute to the team’s successes.

Kawasaki Frontale who last week announced their limited edition twentieth-year anniversary shirt, were hoping to mark the shirt with yet another win, as it seemed the team was unstoppable. That was until they played Sagan Tosu.  That marked the end to a sixteen league game unbeaten streak. That loss couldn’t have come at a worse time as they prepare for this pivotal game in the league. That said, the team won’t have just gone bad overnight. This is still the team which leads the goal scoring record, with an impressive fifty-one goals scored in just twenty-five games. They will potentially miss Miyoshi who is suspended after picking up a red card later on in last week’s loss.

The record between the two teams makes for very interesting reading. Urawa Red Diamonds won the last game in Kawasaki this season and have won twelve out of the twenty-eight games the teams have contested. In fact, the away team classically struggle on this ground having not won there in three years. The game will likely be a preview of the Championship stage as both of these teams are very likely to qualify for it. Should one team emerge victorious here, they’ll have a major psychological advantage over their opponents in the end game.