Omiya Ardija – DF Tsubouchi out for two to three weeks with a thigh injury. DF Murakami also expected to miss at least one month.
Kawasaki Frontale – DFs Komiyama and Jeci both out for at least a few more weeks each.

Nine wins for Frontale over the last ten years, compared to nine for Ardija – pretty even all round, with five draws over 22 meetings.

Omiya Ardija (P11 W4 D3 L4 GD -5) have been inconsistent so far this campaign. In Cho and Shimohira they have a couple of gems on the left but are not using them enough. Carlinos appears to be keeping out a great midfield player in Kota Ueda, and so needs to add more to his game to justify his selection. They have beaten Urawa and Gamba recently, but were destroyed by Vissel Kobe too and no-one is sure which Ardija will turn up … challenging Cerezo Osaka for the title of most inconsistent team in J1? probably not yet!

Kawasaki Frontale (P11 W5 D1 L5 GD -3) were blanked 2-0 at home by Kashiwa Reysol last time out but have won two of their last four, including a corker against Jubilo Iwata and are a changed team since coach Kazama took over. FW Yajima is on a hot streak with five goals so far this season after a slow start and will be hoping to add to that total this weekend. The fans may have learned that less Brazilians means more goals and points for Frontale? If the classy midfield of Frontale turns up today they will overrun the home team and I fancy that we should EXPECT a WIN for KAWASAKI FRONTALE!

Urawa Reds – MF Naoki Yamada is out with a long term knee injury.
Shimizu S-Pulse – DF Iwashita is suspended.

Over the last decade honours are pretty even, with S-Pulse gaining ten wins and Reds nine, with four draws in 23 meetings.

This is THE game of the weekend for me. While I DID tip Urawa Reds (P11 W5 D3 L3 GD+3) to rise again after two seasons of struggle they REALLY do need a forward to finish off some of the sublime work that their midfield is producing. While coach Petrovic is handling the likes of Makino, Abe, Kashiwagi and Suzuki well, inspiring them to play to their limits, a goalscorer MUST be found. Would that man be Genki Haraguchi at centre forward, perhaps?

Shimizu S-Pulse are, for me, the team of the moment. They have some brilliant youngsters in GK Hayashi, FWs Omae and Takagi, and plenty in between. Blend them with older heads like Ono and Takahara, throw in some foreign grit in Brosque and Jong-a-Pin and you see a team that will be challenging for the championship come November! Some of their aces were rested for the Nabisco Cup game in the week, with a view to a hard pressing game today and, if the real S-Pulse team returns – after not turning up against Cerezo Osaka last week, but still earning a point – then Reds will be looking at another home defeat. EXPECT a WIN for SHIMIZU S-PULSE!

Jubilo Iwata – GK Kawaguchi is out long term with an Achilles tendon injury.

Five of the last seven matches between these two teams have ended in a draw. Over the last decade, Jubilo have registered seven wins, to Niigata’s four, with six draws.

Albirex Niigata (P11 W2 D3 L6 GD -5) have had the terrible start that many pundits – myself included – predicted and I can’t see it getting better for them. The loss of Cho Young Cheol and Marcio Richardes was a big blow to the team, and the fans. The returning Kisho Yano and Gamba loanee Shoki Hirai have not really come up with the goods and Albirex will struggle more as the season progresses.

Jubilo Iwata (P11 W5 D3 L3 GD +4) started well, but I tipped them to be a mid-table team and I am sticking to that. Having said that, they should have no trouble in finding three points today and keeping their position challenging for an ACL place and a win today will perhaps add to that false hope that they can be a force this season. FW Maeda has to get among the goals more, although, new Korean FW Baek has been picking up the slack and might be the missing link that Jubilo have been searching for since the departure of Lee Keun Ho to Gamba. EXPECT a WIN for JUBILO IWATA!

Yokohama F. Marinos – DF Amano is a long term injury victim.
Gamba Osaka – DF Eduardo – who has still not played for the team is out for a few more months with a broken leg! RB Kaji out for six weeks. FW Kawanishi is approaching return from a broken leg.

Over the last decade Marinos have registered ten wins to Gamba’s eight, with six draws.

After a dire start and calls for the head of coach Higuchi, Yokohama F. Marinos (P11 W4 D4 L3 GD +2) have won four games in a row and will be looking for blood. No-one is really sure what has turned the team around but some believe the return of old boy (in more ways than one) Marquinos to the team, after his season start was delayed by injury (or the fact that Oguro is on the bench?) is a good pointer to a new Marinos! Those four wins have included Reds and Sanfrecce away and they will probably be quietly confident that they can take out a struggling Gamba!

Gamba Osaka (P10 W2 D2 L6 GD -9) endured a worse start than Marinos, switched the coaching team and had a short rise in fortune but are currently sitting last but one and even winning their game in hand would only take them up one place! They have had their injury problems and they continue to mount with right back Kaji being added to that list but if coach Matsunami can find the right combination of the up and coming youngsters with the experience of the likes of Endo, Myojin and Futagawa, Gamba will salvage their season, consolidate and rebuild for 2013. That’s as much as they can realistically hope for this season, for sure. Last time out they had top team Vegalta Sendai relying on a late equaliser to take home a point and they will take encouragement from that and I fancy them to end Yokohama’s impressive winning run. EXPECT a WIN for GAMBA OSAKA!

Cerezo have announced that Hiroshi Kiyotake will join FC Nuremburg after the Olympics!

Over a decade Kashiwa have three wins, Cerezo just one, with four draws. Cerezo’s sole win was a 5-0 home thrashing of Reysol last season, in Kashiwa’s title-winning term!

Cerezo Osaka (P11 W4 D2 L5 GD +1) almost took maximum points from Shimizu S-Pulse last weekend, but for a last second equaliser from Alex Brosque and are still living up to their inconsistent tag. With the announcement of Kiyotake’s departure to the Bundesliga (and the expected departure of another key player in Kim Bo Kyung) Cerezo are going to have to, once again, rebuild a team – but they are getting used to that now, after losing Kagawa, Inui and Ienaga over the last two tears or so! They’ve won only one of their last five games – a 3-2 win over Jubilo, and in that game they allowed two late goals and almost let the game slip away! Surely their fans will want a win to console them over the loss of Kiyotake!

Kashiwa Reysol (P10 W# D2 L5 GD -3) surprised us all last season by lasting longer than anyone really expected and coming out with the championship. This season they are no longer the surprise package, and they are juggling their ACL campaign with league play – and failing. They surprised a resurgent Kawasaki Frontale last time out but the adrenalin will be flowing fo the home team in this game and we can EXPECT a WIN for CEREZO OSAKA!

Nagoya Grampus – MF Ogawa is suspended. MF Isomura is expected to be out for the season.

Sendai won away last season, while their home tie was drawn… over the decade there have been just seven meetings with Sendai winning just that one time last season, with two draws and four wins for Nagoya.

Vegalta Sendai (P11 W7 D3 L1 GD +12) still sit atop the J.League despite a defeat – ending their unbeaten start – by S-Pulse and a draw at Gamba Osaka last week. Have the wheels fallen off the cart earlier this season. After a final run-in last season that saw them drop down the table, the “collapse” might be coming sooner this season? Of course, everyone thought that Reysol couldn’t do it last year, so, will Vegalta surprise us all and stay at the top this time? If they want to win the league there games against other possible contenders are the games they MUST win. Star goalscoring forward Akamine is back (and indeed, scored the equalising goal at Gamba last week) and Sekiguchi will be looking for more goals, too.

Nagoya Grampus (P10 W5 D2 L3 GD +3) are sitting in 8th on 17 points after an inconsistent start to the campaign. They are being discussed as struggling, in crisis, but, if they won their game in hand they’d be in 3rd place! So nothing to worry about too much yet, for Nagoya, I feel. A couple of wins and they’ll be THE team to beat again, although the physical presence of Tulio at the back may be being undermined by his lack of speed and technical play as he gets, well, older! FW Nagai can blossom with more time on the field, but will have to fight for it with Kennedy, when fit, and Tamada. Nice to have so much choice, though! EXPECT a WIN for NAGOYA GRAMPUS!

Just two league meetings between these two (in 2008) and a Nabisco Cup tie this year, with Antlers winning all three.

Kashima Antlers (P11 W3 D2 L6 GD -5) halted their terrible point-less and goal-less start to the season with three wins in quick succession but have managed only two more draws to add to those points and will be hoping that this home game against the bottom team will halt their slump. They have been beaten soundly by Jubilo Iwata and Shimizu S-Pulse in their last three matches – the other being a 0-0 draw with Sagan Tosu – so they are without a goal, and just none point from the last three games. Surely they can change that today.

Consadole Sapporo (P11 W1 D1 L9 GD -10) still have just that one win to their name – against inconsistent Cerezo – plus a couple of draws, scoring just eight times in 11 matches and look like they have their work cut out this season to stop going straight back down to J1 with a record low number of points! While Antlers are having their problems this season they should not expect to struggle in this match – EXPECT a WIN for KASHIMA ANTLERS!