5. Vegalta
Sendai (12) vs
A draw is logical
TEAM NEWS
Vegalta Sendai defender Naoki Sugai
is uncertain due to injury.
Urawa Reds will have a full squad except midfielders
Tsukasa Umesaki and Naoki Yamada.
Vegalta Sendai
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Naoki Sugai(left leg)
Injured/unavailable: None
Urawa Reds
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured/unavailable: Tsukasa Umesaki(ligament), Naoki
Yamada(ligament)
MATCH PREVIEW
Vegalta Sendai have been winless for 6 matches. They
played very well against Nagoya Grampus 1-2 in Round 11 in spite of a 1-2
defeat. Head coach Makoto Teguramori said,
"There's no need to be worried. We're getting better and
better".
The biggest reason why they can't win is the lack of prolific forward.
Midfielders like Ryang Yong Gi
and Naoki Chiba are good. But forwards Yuki Nakashima and Tomoyuki Hirase aren't good
enough to be succeed in J1. Scoring goals is the
most important in football.
Urawa Reds lost to Yokohama F-Marinos
2-3 at home in Round 11. They attacked very intensively but the lack of
concentration caused them to concede 3 goals. Defender Nobuhisa
Yamada said, "We lost to ourselves".
Head coach Volker Finke said, "Players are exhausted due to tight
schedule. Now we have a week for the next match. We can be well
prepared". Urawa Reds are highly
motivated for the match on Saturday.
The match will most likely end up in a draw.
HEAD TO HEAD
Their last league encounters were back in 2003 in
which Urawa Reds won 3-2 at home and 6-1 away.