Having both reached the fourth round of the Emperor Cup, Shonan Bellmare and Avispa Fukuoka lock horns at the Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka in round 21 of the J1 League on Sunday.
The Hiratsuka outfit, who are without a win in any of their last 14 league matches, will head into the weekend looking to build on their cup win and get their season back on track.
Match preview
Shonan Bellmare continued their quest for glory in the Emperor Cup as they picked up a 2-0 victory over J2 League side Fagiano Okayama in their third-round clash on Wednesday.
Following a goalless first half, 19-year-old forward Akito Suzuki broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute before substitute Hisatsugu Ishii put the result beyond reach with an 88th-minute strike.
Prior to that, Shonan Bellmare kicked off their Emperor Cup campaign on June 7, when Suzuki netted a hat-trick to fire them to an emphatic 6-1 victory over Btop Hokkaido.
Satoshi Yamaguchi's men now turn their attention to the J1 League, where they have endured an abysmal first half of the season and are currently on a 14-match winless run.
Shonan Bellmare have picked up five draw and lost nine league matches since Shuto Machino netted four goals to hand them a 4-1 victory Gamba Osaka on April 1.
This poor run of results has seen the Hiratsuka-based club drop to the bottom of the J1 League table, although they could move up to 16th place with all three points this weekend.
Elsewhere, Avispa Fukuoka maintained their new-found form as they came from behind to claim a 2-1 extra-time victory over FC Gifu in the Emperor Cup on Wednesday.
Ryoga Sato struck an 84th-minute equaliser to cancel out Itsubei Hada's first-half opener and force extra time before substitute Douglas Grolli grabbed the winner with five minutes left to play.
This was in keeping with their impressive turnaround in the J1 League, where they beat Cerezo Osaka 1-0 on June 30 to end their four-match losing streak, one week before claiming a 2-1 win over Consadole Sapporo.
Shigetoshi Hasebe's men have picked up seven wins, five draws and lost eight of their 20 matches to collect 26 points and sit 12th in the league table, level on points with 11th-placed FC Tokyo.
While Avispa Fukuoka will be looking to make it four wins on the trot for the first time since May 2021, they currently hold the division's third-worst away record, having picked up just six points from their nine matches.
However, the Hachi will be backing themselves this weekend as they take on an opposing side against whom they are unbeaten in their last four meetings, claiming two wins and two draws since a 3-1 loss in February 2022.
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Team News
Shonan Bellmare remain without experienced striker Keita Yamashita, who picked up a meniscus injury in May's game against Consadole Sapporo.
He is joined on the hosts' injury table by fellow attacker Masaki Ikeda, who has been out of action since March through a severe shoulder injury.
Machino, who is Shonan's leading scorer in the league with nine goals, completed a move to Holstein Kiel two weeks ago, meaning that Yuki Ohashi and Suzuki should lead the attack once again.
As for Avispa, Kimiya Moriyama and his defensive partner Masashi Kamekawa will play no part in Sunday's game as they are currently recuperating from meniscus and tendon injuries respectively.
Former Shonan Bellmare midfielder Shun Nakamura has missed the last seven matches through a muscle problem and is also out of contention for this weekend's clash.
Shonan Bellmare possible starting lineup:
Murakami; Oda, Nara, Grolli, Maejima; Sato, Ideguchi, Mae, Kanamori; Yamagishi, Lukian
Avispa Fukuoka possible starting lineup:
Song; Ono, Yamamoto, Tachi; Okuno, Hata, Barada, Yamada, Onose; Suzuki, Ohashi
We say: Shonan Bellmare 1-1 Avispa Fukuoka
While Shonan Bellmare will look to pick up from where they dropped off in midweek, they face a spirited Avispa Fukuoka side who have put together a fine run of form in recent weeks. However, Hasebe's men have struggled for results away from home and we predict that both sides will cancel out each other's efforts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
