Consadole Sapporo vs Hiroshima 05/09/20

05 September 2020

Consadole Sapporo (12th) and Hiroshima (11th) go head to head at Sapporo Dome in an exciting J1 League showdown, with just one point separating the sides ahead of the kick-off.

Sapporo bowed out of the YBC Levain Cup during the midweek, losing to Yokohama Marinos after a penalty shoot-out. Things are not going well for the ‘Consa’ in the league either, as they enter this round after failing to pick up a win in five consecutive matches (D2, L3). It gets more weight when taking into account that each of those defeats came via at least a three-goal margin. The hosts can’t catch a break, having failed to secure a win in four successive top-flight home fixtures (D2, L2), losing at the half-time break on three of those occasions. In fact, slow-starting Sapporo have scored the opening goal (if any) in just two of six J1 League home outings this term.

The visitors are not enjoying the best of time themselves, as they take this trip on a run of four league games without a win (D2, L2). Hiroshi Jofuku’s men have been struggling in front of the opposition goal lately, netting under 1.5 goals in five of their previous six top-flight fixtures. What’s more, the ‘Sanfrecce’ have failed to get on the scoresheet in three of their last five J1 League trips (W1, D1, L3). The recent H2H record against Sapporo doesn’t speak against a low-scoring theme, given that they’ve either drawn a blank or scored precisely once in four of their previous five encounters across various competitions.