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!