13:30 Vegalta Sendai v. Consadole Sapporo at Yurtec Stadium

Vegalta Sendai – MF Sekiguchi out with ligament damage, may be back before end of June. DF Uemoto out until end of July, knee injury.

Consadole Sapporo – MF Takagi had knee surgery but is back in training, DF Nara expected to be unavailable this week through injury, MF Yokono is out with knee ligament damage, FW Maeda out until at least August.

Consadole have seven wins to Vegalta’s five victories, with seven draws since 2004, but this is 2012, top against bottom. What should we expect!?

Vegalta Sendai (P13 W8 D3 L2 GD +15) have only won one of their last five so probably welcomed the break to resettle the team and, with this restart against a team who have shipped 28 goals, they will welcome the chance to consolidate their position at the top of J1.

Consadole Sapporo (P13 W1 D1 L11 GD -19) will be just looking to stem the flow of goals against J1’s top team but are suffering from a long injury list and, certainly from a lack of confidence after scoring only nine goals in 13 matches. However hard I try I can only see a WIN for VEGALTA SENDAI here!

FC Tokyo – MF Otake is a long term absentee, FW Hirayama should still be considered doubtful.

Urawa Reds – DF Hamada is with Japan U23 team. DF Spiranovic is with Australia. MF Naoki Yamada expected to be out for the season.

13 wins for Urawa, just two for Tokyo, and three draws, in 18 meetings over the last decade.

FC Tokyo (P11 W7 D0 L4 GD +2) will be buoyed by the national team squad selection of Tokunaga, Hasegawa and Takahashi (who made his debut as a substitute) for the Wednesday match against Azerbaijan and will want to beat their close rivals to keep in touch with the title-chasing pack, so expect a hard fought battle in Tokyo this weekend. The teams are level on points but FC Tokyo have a game in hand due to ACL commitments so a win here would prove that they should be considered genuine championship contenders, while Urawa Reds (P12 W6 D3 L3 GD +4) will be claiming the same with a win.

Reds should have enough cover to make up for the absence of Hamada while Tokyo are also well covered in positions affected by absence. Reds have won just one of their last four games, while Tokyo are on a run of three wins-in-a-row. This could come down to confidence and that would swing it the way of FC Tokyo but I am going to EXPECT a DRAW?

Vissel Kobe – FW Okubo claims to be back from injury but will struggle to play a full game. DF Iwanami is away on U19 duty and also reported to be signing with PSV Eindhoven – he may not even get to make his debut for Vissel Kobe. New coach Akira Nishino will be at the club for this match.

Kashima Antlers will be missing FW Osako and MF Yamamura to U23 duty in France.

Nine wins for Kashima, just three for Kobe and five draws over the last decade in 17 meetings, with Vissel wins coming in 2003, 2004 and 2009.

Vissel Kobe (P12 W5 D0 L7 GD -4) welcome new coach Akira Nishino on the back of two losses (three including a Nabisco Cup defeat at home to S-Pulse), after interim coach Adachi won a couple to get the team’s spirits up. Nichino is known to be a man who builds a team, makes sweeping changes over a season of rebuilding, with a view to the future. But Vissel owner Mikitani wants success this season – will that be too much to ask? Nishino’s first line-up will be interesting to see. Plenty of youngsters to build a team around, with some solid experience to help settle in.

Kashima Antlers (P12 W4 D2 L6 GD +2) had a bad start, stuck with their coaching team, turned the corner, lost a few more games, and then thrashed Consadole last week 7-0 (with seven different goalscorers). They’ll be confident, but missing Osako, although Dutra and Juninho will be hoping to prove they are worthy of a place so will be giving their all. It might not be enough and I EXPECT a WIN for VISSEL KOBE!

Jubilo Iwata – DF Cho is with the Korean national team, MF Yamamoto is with the Japan U23 team, GK Kawaguchi out for the season, probably.

Omiya Ardija – DFs Tsubouchi and Murakami are confirmed injured. MF Higashi is on U23 duty in France.

Jubilo Iwata (P12 W6 D3 L3 GD +9) will miss Cho and Yamamoto big time, but if Baek is on form, and Maeda is back from Japan duty ready and willing, Jubilo will be firing on most cylinders! Baek has been the driving force in a team that changed, in my opinion, from also-rans, to having a chance of a top six finish – if Baek, in particular stays fit and continues his form.

Omiya Ardija (P12 W4 D3 L5 GD -7) look like a team resigned to a struggle this season but reports state that they will be happy to survive and a target of 50 points at most is what they’ll be happy with! New signings Cho and Shimohira, and U23 starlet Higashi (missing today) can surely not be happy with a team that publicly lacks ambition like that. It won’t help team confidence, but it may give them something to prove. I think we should EXPECT a DRAW!

Shimizu S-Pulse – MF Alex Brosque is suspended after red card. DF Yoshida and MF Muramatsu are on U23 duty with Japan.

Yokohama F.Marinos – FW Yuji Ono is suspended. MF/FW Manabu Saito is with the U23 team, presuming his injured ankle is recovered!

Seven wins for Marinos, five for S-Pulse and TEN draws over the last decade, in 22 meetings begs another draw? Four of those Marinos wins came in 2005 or before.

Both teams are depleted, with Shimizu S-Pulse (P12 W7 D1 L4 GD +4) missing Brosque and Muramatsu in particular from their midfield, but Saito and Ono will be big losses for Yokohama F.Marinos (P12 W4 D5 L3 GD +2), also. Marinos won four in a row before their 0-0 draw with Gamba Osaka last time out, while S-Pulse have faltered just when we thought they could hit the top spot. A draw with Cerezo and a loss to Reds in their last two games saw them drop five points that would have seen them level at the top of J1. S-Pulse coach Afshin Ghotbi will need to rally his troops and renew the confidence that they showed until recently. They’ll need a big game from Takagi and Omae to win this, but I think we can EXPECT a WIN for SHIMIZU S-PULSE!

Kawasaki Frontale – DFs Jeci and Komiyama out and one of the players who replaced them in defence also out injured now, Inamoto!

Vegalta Sendai – influential MF Sekiguchi destined to be out for one month.

In nine meetings over the last ten years Frontale have four wins to Sendai’s two, with three draws. Most recently, Kawasaki triumphed in the Nabisco Cup last month.

Kawasaki Frontale (P12 W6 D1 L5 GD -1) have lost at home twice – to Reysol and Sanfrecce – in their last five games, but won the other three. They are looking better, and scoring more goals than under Naoki Soma, who started the season coaching them, but Kazama Kawasaki need to be more clinical and tighter at the back to continue challenging for the top six.18 goals scored in 12 games is not that bad, but 19 conceded does not help in the long run!

Just when we thought the Vegalta Sendai (P12 W8 D3 L1 GD +16) juggernaut had come off the road – with a loss and two draws, they annihilated Nagoya Grampus last time out. Sekiguchi will be missed, but Akamine seems back to full fitness and the team has all round quality in all areas, especially a strong defence (nine goals conceded, best in the league along with, believe it or not, Sagan Tosu!) and will be expecting to take the points here. I fancy that we should EXPECT a DRAW!

14:00 Consadole Sapporo v. Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Atsubetsu Stadium – More Misery for Sapporo!

Consadole Sapporo – FW Maeda out for approximately three months.

The teams last met four times in 2003 when Consadole gained one draw, and we saw three wins for Hiroshima.

Consadole Sapporo (P12 W1 D1 L10 GD -17) have had a dire start to their return to J1 and do not seem to be staying long. A long list of irritating injuries does not help the team, and now we can add FW Maeda to a list of players out injured. AND Jade North is on duty with Australia, as well as the team missing U19 internationals FW Sakaki and MF Arano – what’s left of this team will struggle to keep out a buoyant Sanfrecce Hiroshima (P12 W7 D1 L4 GD +9). The away team have been inconsistent over last five games with a W L W L W record in that time, but they should have no problem with Consadole! EXPECT a WIN for SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA!

19:30 Nagoya Grampus v. Cerezo Osaka at Toyota Stadium – The Battle of Inconsistency!

Nagoya Grampus – MF Isomura is a long term injury absentee. Kennedy is NOT match fit!

Cerezo Osaka – MF Ogihara is away with the U-23 team in France. GK Kim and influential MF Kim are both with the Korean national Team!

Eight wins for Nagoya, four for Cerezo, and five draws, over 17 meetings in the last decade. All of Cerezo’s wins came pre-2006 and Nagoya have won four of the last five meetings between the teams.

As with the Gamba – Sagan match, this game is scheduled here to allow Nagoya to prepare for their Tuesday night ACL match. Nagoya Grampus (P11 W5 D2 L4 GD -1) are down in an unfamiliar 10th position after 11 games, although, if they win their game in hand those three points would take them into 7th. Nevertheless, it has been a difficult start to the campaign for a team that everyone expected to be challenging for the title this season. Of course, with a couple more wins under their belt they will be moving up and the confidence will return, so they must win games like this one. Having lost three of their last four games Grampus will be looking to get all the points in front of their fans.

Cerezo Osaka (P12 W4 D2 L6 GD 0) lost to Kashiwa Reysol last time out after going ahead and looking good to win it. Previously they let a lead slip in the final kick of the game to share points with S-Pulse, and lost at home to Vissel Kobe. Inconsistent, indeed! They’ll be missing Ogihara this week and Kiyotake also confirmed he will move to the Bundesliga after the Olympics, so the team will be weaker both mentally and physically today and I think we can EXPECT a WIN for NAGOYA GRAMPUS!

Gamba Osaka – DF Akira Kaji out for at least one month. MF Sasaki must be considered doubtful. DF Eduardo out with a broken leg, FW Kawanishi still out recovering from broken leg.

Sagan Tosu – MF Mizunuma is in France with the U23 team. MF Takahashi still out for another month.

This will be the first meeting between these two teams!

This match scheduled for Friday night to allow Gamba ample time to prepare for an expected ACL match the next Tuesday, but they did not qualify for the knockout stages, so now a Friday night inconvenience perhaps! Gamba Osaka (P11 W2 D3 L6 GD -9) have two draws in their last two matches but could really use some wins, being five points adrift of relegation safety already. Now that they are out of the ACL they can concentrate on rebuilding the team and consolidating their J1 position for next season.

Sagan Tosu (P4 D5 L3 GD +3) have not won in their last five games, losing last time out, and the four games before that all ended in draws. They are still unbeaten at home but are due for a loss away from home. Mizunuma will be a big loss for the away team, while Gamba Osaka are missing the experience of Kaji but it surely must be time to ease in a new right back, anyway, is Daiki Niwa that man? This must surely be the chance for Gamba’s new beginning and, if they don’t win this one, they will know that safety will get further away with over one third of the season gone. EXPECT a WIN for GAMBA OSAKA.