Fresh off the back of reaching the round of 16 of the Emperors Cup, Shonan Bellmare play host to Jubilo Iwata at the Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka in the round of 23 of the J1 League on Sunday.
Having won each of the last three meetings between the sides, the Jubilo will head into the weekend looking to complete the double over the hosts and end their run of eight consecutive away games without a win.
Match preview
Shonan Bellmare scraped through the third round of the Emperors Cup on Wednesday as they picked up a narrow 1-0 victory over a resilient Tokyo Verdy side at the Hiratsuka Kyujo.
With nothing to separate the sides heading into the final quarter of the game, 20-year-old striker Akito Suzuki came up clutch for the hosts as he netted in the 66th minute to send Verdy packing.
Shonan Bellmare return to action in the J1 League, where they are currently on a run of just one win in their last seven games while losing four and claiming two draws since mid-May.
This win came in their last outing before Wednesday's cup clash as the Hiratsuka outfit edged out Urawa Red Diamonds 3-2 when the sides squared off at the Urawa Komaba Stadium last Saturday.
In that encounter, the Shonan Bellmare snatched all three points late in the game as Hisatsugu Ishii and Brazilian forward Lukian scored within two minutes of stoppage time to turn the game on its head and leave the hosts empty handed.
Satoshi Yamaguchi's men have won just four of their 22 J1 League matches so far while losing 11 and claiming seven draws to collect 19 points and sit 19th in the table, only above rock-bottom Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.
On the other hand, Jubilo Iwata were denied back-to-back league wins at home for the first time this season as they played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with Kawasaki Frontale at the Yamaha Stadium last Saturday.
After falling behind to Ryo Germain's 20th-minute opener, Kawasaki upped the ante in the second half as Daiy Tobi and Kento Tachibanada found the back of the net to turn the game around, but substitute Hiroki Yamada struck in the 92nd minute to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Jubilo Iwata snapped their five-match winless run across all competitions on June 26, when they thrashed Tokyo Verdy 3-0 on home turf, four days before crashing down to earth in a 3-0 defeat against Urawa Red Diamonds.
Having secured promotion from the second tier last season, Akinobu Yokouchi's men have picked up 24 points from 22 league matches to sit 16th in the J1 League standings, level on points with 15th-placed Kawasaki Frontale.
Next up for the Jubilo Iwata is the challenge of taking on a Shonan Bellmare side who have lost each of their most recent three meetings and have failed to win 14 of their last 20 encounters since April 2010.
While the Jubilo will head into the weekend looking to extend their recent dominance in this fixture, results on the road offer little optimism as they have failed to win any of their last eight away matches, claiming three draws and losing five, including a 1-0 defeat against V-Varen Nagasaki in the J League Cup on April 17.
Team News
Shonan Bellmare will take to the pitch without the midfield duo of Taiyo Hiraoka and Kosuke Onose, who have been sidelined through adductor and hamstring injuries respectively.
Veteran midfielder Hiroyuki Abe has missed each of the hosts' last five games since coming off injured against Nagoya on June 16 and the 35-year-old is also out of contention for Sunday's game.
Suzuki grabbed the headlines for Shonan in the midweek cup triumph and we expect the 20-year-old to lead the attack once again, alongside strike partner Lukian.
As for Jubilo Iwata, goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima was forced off injured midway through the game against Kawasaki last time out and the 41-year-old is a major doubt for Sunday's game.
In his absence, 22-year-old Mitsuki Sugimotooi should come in for his first league start of the season, while we expect an unchanged back four of Hiroto Uemura, Kaito Suzuki, Ricardo Graca and Ko Matsubara once again.
Shonan Bellmare possible starting lineup:
Song; J Suzuki, Kim, Takahashi; Hata, Yanada, Ikeda, Tanaka, Y Suzuki; A Suzuki, Lukian
Jubilo Iwata possible starting lineup:
Sugimotooi; Uemura, Suzuki, Graca, Matsubara; Matsumoto, Gomes, Uehara, Kaneko; Germain, Peixoto
We say: Shonan Bellmare 1-1 Jubilo Iwata
Looking at past results between Shonan Bellmare and Jubilo Iwata, we expect a cagey affair at the Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka as both sides look to pull clear of the danger zone. Both sides are evenly matched on paper and we predict that they will cancel out each other's efforts and settle for a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
