Vegalta Sendai Vs Avispa Fukuoka

Avispa Fukuoka will look to keep their streak alive on Saturday, May 15 when they take a trip to Yurtec Stadium Sendai to face off against Vegalta Sendai. These sides have not clashed in over five years while Avispa haven’t won a match in Sendai since 2005.

When: Saturday, May 15 – 13:00 JST
Where: Yurtec Stadium Sendai in Sendai, Japan
Weather: Cloudy, 19°C

Vegalta Sendai are struggling to find any serious traction this season. They’re second-to-last in the league with a 1-4-8 record and only seven points to their name.

Vegalta’s poor home record has been the main factor in their struggles. However, we have seen some improvement last time out, when they forced a big draw against Kawasaki Frontale.

Will that be enough to stop the in-form Aviska Fukuoka remains to be seen, but if the hosts can continue playing this way, we should be in for a great night of football.

Vegalta Sendai Showing Improvement

Two weeks ago, we sided against Vegalta Sendai for their match against Kashiwa Reysol, citing their poor form and particularly bad home record. The match did not end as we expected.

Vegalta won the match 1-0 via a 68′ goal from Takuma Nishimura who took his chance after a mistake from Reysol’s defence. While it wasn’t a particularly strong showing from the hosts, it was a deserved win.

Sendai have since played three games and failed to win a single one. They lost their YBC Levian Cup match against Shimizu S-Pulse (1-4), and league match against Urawa Reds (0-2).

In their last outing, Sendai forced a 2-2 draw in an away game against Kawasaki Frontale (2-2), which isn’t terrible by any means. What makes that draw even more impressive is that Makoto Teguramori’s men came from behind (twice) to steal a point against a team that has a firm hold of 1st place in the league.

There’s not much more to say than that it was a good effort from Vegalta against a side that looks poised to win their fourth title. While it’s not wise to overreact to one solid showing, Vegalta Sendai definitely seem like they’re on the rise.

Avispa Fukuoka Unbeaten in Their Last Seven

Avispa Fukuoka earned us a nice double payout at 1.97 and 5.59 with their 2-1 victory against Sanfrecce Hiroshima last month. They have since gone unbeaten with two YBC Levian Cup draws against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (1-1) and Kashima Antlers (1-1), and two league wins against Urawa Reds (2-0) and Kashiwa Reysol (1-0).

Avispa Fukuoka are now without a loss in their last seven and hold a solid 6-4-4 league record. With 22 points to their name, Avispa Fukuoka are sixth on the ladder, five points short of breaking into the top three.

It’s nice seeing Avispa Fukuoka turning things around after a shaky start of the season. And we are particularly impressed with their offensive work.

During their unbeaten run, the Hornets have scored nine goals and conceded only three. That’s a fairly clear improvement from what they’ve managed to produce in 14 league games (17-16) this season.

While Avispa Fukuoka don’t have the go-to goalscorer, that isn’t a big issue if you have 11 players who have scored at least once in 2021. Their top scorers are midfielder Emil Salomonsson with three, followed by Takeshi Kanamori and Bruno Mendes with two apiece.

Vegalta Sendai vs Avispa Fukuoka Betting Picks

Avispa Fukuoka and Vegalta Sendai last met in July 2016, when they parted ways with a 1-1 draw. Vegalta Sendai picked up four out of their last five head-to-head meetings with Avispa at Yurtec Stadium Sendai.

Regardless of what that might suggest, it’s been five years since these two last met, and they’re now completely different teams.

Had Avispa travelled to Sendai a couple of weeks back, siding with them would be an easy choice. However, Vegalta now look much improved and they should be a much more dangerous opponent tonight.

The angle we are looking at for this match is goals. Avispa might hold a very impressive record, but they have conceded at least once in all but one of their last six away starts. During that stretch, they have conceded eight goals and scored just as many.

This is one of those games where both teams should have plenty of chances to score at least once. A goal apiece is something we expect with a solid chance we might see more bit more than that.

Prediction: Over 2.00 goals

For premium J1 League betting picks, join our premium membership for only 50€ per month. Join us today and start betting with us on soccer, tennis, golf, horse racing, and more. Below are some of our picks for Saturday.