Urawa Red Diamonds' last league match ended in a 0-0 draw with Kashima Antlers, which dashed the team's hopes of winning the league. Urawa also lost the J-League Cup, defeating Fukuoka Hornets 1-2 in the final.
This match will give Red Diamonds a chance to show their fighting spirit in front of the home fans, and the players will be fighting to save face.
Alexander Schuhus and Tomoaki Okubo will be the core players for Urawa. Alexandre Schouhouz will need to be at his best, trying to keep Kobe Victory striker Isao Osako quiet, while Tomoaki Okubo will need to be disciplined to stop Victory's attacking play on the left flank.
Victory's performance against Shonan Bima was disappointing, only able to return with a 1-1 draw, leaving them at the top of the table with only a two-point advantage.
The main reason why they couldn't get all three points last time was that their defense had lost concentration for a while, so they can't afford to make a similar mistake this time around.
Although Sasaki's form is a bit doubtful after his early exit against Shonan, I still think that Sasaki's back-up attack has the best chance of scoring for the team as Isao Osako and Yoshinori Muto will surely be closely guarded.
