Kashiwa Reysol vs Shonan Bellmare 10/10/18

10 October 2018

Kashiwa Reysol and Shonan Bellmare are set to face-off against each other in the YBC Levain Cup semi-finals, with the encounter scheduled to take place at the Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium.

A stunning 3-0 away victory over Hiroshima last weekend ended the Reysol’ 6-game winless streak although it’s hard to say they have managed to overcome the crisis. Takahiro Shimotaira’s team barely eliminated the J2-League outfit Kofu thanks to a 2-2 draw on the road, as they’ve been held to a 1-1 draw at home four days after. Besides, in the last eight home matches, the 2-time J-League champions have only secured one triumph, while losing five times in the process, without keeping a clean sheet once.

The visitors, in the meantime, are chasing their third consecutive victory at the Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium, as they’ve beaten Kashiwa in the last two away meetings by a comfortable 2-goal margin. However, Shonan’s form is anything but encouraging. In the previous five games, Cho Kwi-Jea’s team only clinched one win, while being held to three draws in the process. Nevertheless, they are going to enter the duel motivated following a narrow 1-0 success against Sagan Tosu last weekend.

Kosuke Nakamura and Junya Ito won’t be playing for the hosts, while the visitors should start at full strength, considering Cho Kwi-Jea have all of his players fit and ready for the match.