Avispa Fukuoka vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Sanfrecce Hiroshima head to the Best Denki Stadium to take on Avispa Fukuoka in the first leg of their YBC Levain Cup last-16 tie. 

Two unanswered first-half goals set the tone for Avispa Fukuoka’s dramatic 2-1 away win over lower-league Toyama in the previous Levain Cup round, keeping their hopes of winning this trophy for the first time since 2023. However, they have since gone back-to-back J1 League matches without scoring (D1, L1), most recently drawing 0-0 with Tokyo Verdy on this ground last weekend. Those failures form part of Fukuoka’s ominously-looking nine-game winless run against top-flight opposition (D4, L5). It’s equally important to note that they failed to score in five of those eight matches while netting precisely once in the other four. Therefore, posting their first H2H win since April 2021 doesn’t look likely, even though they’ve kept their recent meetings with Hiroshima competitive.

Indeed, despite beating Fukuoka in four of their five encounters since their last Levain Cup showdown (D1), three of those four triumphs have yielded single-goal margins, testifying to the tight nature of this contest. Another narrow win would do for Hiroshima, who won this trophy as recently as 2022, though it was their maiden Levain Cup triumph. The visitors are heavily fancied to reach the quarter-finals this year, even though a 2-1 home defeat to Kawasaki Frontale derailed their spirits ahead of this trip. That result knocked them down from a five-game winning streak, maintaining Hiroshima’s habit of going ‘all or nothing.’ Interestingly, none of their last 13 matches have ended level (W7, L6), suggesting this fixture could go either way.