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!