Cong An Ha Noi against Kashima in the Champions League Elite looks like a 7-1 side visiting a 1-4 side, but I'd read the two scorelines more cautiously than that. Kashima's most recent game, a 2-0 home win over Gamba Osaka four days ago, was one they lost on xG (1.24 to 1.71), while Hanoi's 1-4 at Gamba had xG of 1.36 to 2.12. So the gap the opening-round results suggest is wider than the gap in chances, and the real question is whose legs are fresher for a second match in quick succession.
Kashima first, from the match records in our DB. In the 7-1 over Newcastle Jets on Sept 15 they had 18 shots to 4 and xG of 2.46 to 0.48, a genuinely dominant game. The Gamba win on Oct 9 was the opposite: 14 shots to 12, 54% of the ball, and the visitors created more. They now travel to Hanoi on about four days of rest. The supplier data lists Koki Anzai and Yuta Higuchi as injured, though that is a squad flag and does not say whether they would have played anyway.
Hanoi's side is more about availability than form. In their last six games the only defeat was that 1-4 at Gamba; the rest were wins, including 1-0 at Lion City on Oct 8. Coach Alexandre Polking said the team started well against Gamba but could not keep the intensity up, and at his pre-match press conference he said the national-team and regional schedule means they cannot field their strongest side, with Nguyen Dinh Bac among the injured (VietNamNet, Oct 12). He also said that against top Asian opposition Hanoi may need to sit deeper and wait for counters rather than try to control the ball, which is a notable thing for a home coach to say.
What I'd watch is the first hour. If Hanoi really do drop off and counter, the chances Kashima allowed to Gamba (12 shots, 1.71 xG) are the part of their game a patient home team could use. If instead Hanoi try to match the tempo of the first round again, the second-half fade Polking described is the risk. Expected line-ups are only press estimates so far, so personnel on both sides could change this read.
Sources: J.League's matchday preview (jleague.jp), VietNamNet's report of Polking's press conference, and match records and xG from our own DB.
