Vissel Kobe vs Nagoya Grampus

Vissel Kobe’s stuttering J1 League title defense continues at Noevir Stadium against a resurgent Nagoya Grampus side this weekend.

After back-to-back J1 League titles, Vissel Kobe’s quest to complete an unprecedented hat-trick is in tatters as they trail pacesetters Kashima Antlers by 11 points. However, the race is not over, considering they have two games in hand, though the margin for error is thin. Takayuki Yoshida’s side bounced back from a 3-2 defeat at Shimizu S-Pulse with a superb 3-1 win at Kashiwa Reysol, marking their third victory in four league matches. The impending home return should serve them well, as they’ve won four of their last five top-flight outings at Noevir Stadium (L1) after winning none of their opening four this season (D2, L2). Nonetheless, they would be naive to take anything for granted against Nagoya, a side they’ve only beaten once in their last four J1 League H2Hs at this stadium (D2, L1). 

On the other hand, Nagoya set themselves up nicely for this trip with a comfortable 3-0 win over lower-league Veroskronos Tsuno in the Emperor’s Cup, extending their winning streak in all competitions to three games. Furthermore, they’ve been unbeaten in the league since the start of May (W3, D3), which is part of the reason they’ve steered four points away from the drop zone. However, road trips have proved rather complicated for Nagoya this term, as they’ve only won one of their ten away matches (D3, L6). The visitors can draw confidence from going unbeaten in their last three such contests (W1, D2), conceding under 1.5 goals on each occasion.