Sagan Tosu arrive in Akita as the bigger name, but they're carrying heavy legs and a style that keeps getting punished. They dominate the ball and lose to teams that sit tight and break fast, and that is exactly what Akita do. Add a 120-minute cup tie a few days earlier, and this sets up well for the home side.
Tosu's three straight league defeats tell the story. They had 66.2% of the ball against Iwaki and lost 1-3, then 64.1% at Yamagata with 23 shots and lost 0-2. Before that it was 0-1 at Imabari. The local paper in Saga described the Yamagata game as Tosu struggling against patient defending and quick counters.
Akita are built for that. They defend with real intensity and go forward quickly, and they've picked up a win and three draws in their last four. At home they've scored nine in five, with a 4-1 over Tokushima and a 3-0 over Kofu.
Then there's the schedule. Tosu played at Kobe in the Emperor's Cup, at Yamagata three days later, and then beat Verdy 2-1 in the League Cup after extra time three days after that. Forward Daichi Suzuki is out with a back fracture. Akita have had more than a week to prepare.
