J1 League leaders Vissel Kobe will travel to the Yodoko Sakura Stadium on Saturday to face sixth-placed Cerezo Osaka.

The hosts have won three of their last four league games, while Vissel Kobe are unbeaten in six top-flight matches.

Match preview

After claiming three straight wins without conceding, Cerezo Osaka were stopped in their tracks by Nagoya Grampus last weekend.

Capixaba gave his side the lead inside four minutes, but goals from Ryuji Izumi, Yuichi Maruyama and Mateus condemned Cerezo Osaka to a 3-1 away defeat.

They quickly returned to winning ways in midweek, cruising to a 5-0 victory over fifth-tier opposition in the Emperor's Cup to advance to the third round.

Cerezo Osaka will face a much stiffer test on Saturday, but they have tended to fare well in recent games against Vissel Kobe, avoiding defeat in their last six meetings (W3, D3).

Having scored the first goal in all four of their home league wins this season, the hosts will be desperate to open the scoring in Saturday's contest.

Vissel Kobe, meanwhile, are sitting at the top of the J1 League table on goal difference, having picked up 33 points from 15 games.

After extending their unbeaten run to six league matches with a 3-2 win over Tokyo, Vissel Kobe turned their attention to a midweek friendly against Barcelona.

The contest acted as a tribute game to former Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta, who has announced that he will leave Vissel Kobe at the start of July.

Takayuki Yoshida's charges fell to a 2-0 defeat following goals from Franck Kessie and Eric Garcia, but that result will do little to dampen the spirits of a Vissel Kobe side that are flying high in the J1 League.

Impressively, Saturday's visitors are the only team yet to lose an away league game this season, with their opening six away matches yielding four wins and two draws.

Team News

The hosts are expected to be without the services of Hiroshi Kiyotake, Matej Jonjic and Mutsuki Kato due to injury issues.

Jordy Croux, who has missed the last two games, remains a doubt after being forced off at half time of Cerezo Osaka's win over Yokohama on May 28.

Leo Ceara has scored six goals in 16 league appearances this season, and he will have the chance to add to that tally when he features up front on Saturday.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Ryuho Kikuchi, Tetsushi Yamakawa, Nanasei Iino and Gotoku Sakai, who are all in the treatment room.

After making a number of changes for the midweek friendly, Yoshida could revert back to the lineup that started against Tokyo last weekend.

Yuya Osako is currently the joint-top scorer in the J1 League, and he will be looking to add to the 11 league goals that he has scored this season when he leads the line against Cerezo Osaka.

Cerezo Osaka possible starting lineup:
Kim; Maikuma, Shindo, Toriumi, Yamanaka; Suzuki, Kagawa, Okuno; Capixaba, Tameda, Ceara

Vissel Kobe possible starting lineup:
Maekawa; Hatsuse, Yamakawa, Thuler, Honda; Saito, Yamaguchi, Sasaki; Muto, Yuruki, Osako

We say: Cerezo Osaka 1-1 Vissel Kobe

Vissel Kobe are yet to lose on the road this season, but after drawing their last two away matches, we think that they may have to settle for a share of the spoils on Saturday.

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