Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo took a big step in their quest to spend another season in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League on Wednesday and now they’ll hope to move closer to safety when they take on Kashiwa Reysol on Sunday at 16:00 JST in a match that will be shown live on JLeague.co and broadcasters around the world.
Consadole have struggled this season, but Yuya Asano scored to take them past Júbilo Iwata, 1-0, on Wednesday. That lifted them from the bottom of the table and they’re now just four points from safety.
Sapporo’s current eight-year run in the top flight is the longest in club history and the key to keeping it up will be their defense. They lack the firepower up front to make up for defensive problems so locking up the back is paramount. That was on display in their win over Júbilo and if they can keep putting forth solid efforts in front of their own goal, they could climb out of the drop zone.
Reysol have been in the relegation fight before, but seem to have pushed beyond that this season. They’re in 11th place thanks to an enviable defense and the signing of Kosuke Kinoshita has proven to be a terrific addition to the attack. With him, Mao Hosoya and Matheus Sávio, Reysol are dreaming of a top half finish.
Will Reysol keep it up? Or will Sapporo take another step towards safety?
Find out live on a worldwide broadcast.