Albirex Niigata vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima, J. League 2025 REGULAR SEASON

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J. League · 2025

Albirex Niigata

0 – 2

Full Time

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Sun 20 Jul 2025 · 10:00 UTC Denka Big Swan Stadium HT 45' · FT 45'

Michael Fitzgerald 69' Y

Kazuhiko Chiba 82' Y

Overview

Match Preview

Albirex Niigata vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima — J. League at Denka Big Swan Stadium.

Albirex Niigata 0 games · 0 pts (2026/27)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 18 games · 30 pts (2026/27)

Standings

#	Team	P	Pts
1	Vissel Kobe	18	35
2	Cerezo Osaka FC	18	31
3	Nagoya Grampus	18	31
4	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	18	30
5	Gamba Osaka	18	28
6	Fagiano Okayama FC	18	26
7	Shimizu S-Pulse	18	24
8	Kyōto Sanga FC	18	23
9	V-Varen Nagasaki	18	21
10	Avispa Fukuoka	18	21
11	Kashima Antlers	18	45
12	FC Tōkyō	18	37
13	FC Machida Zelvia	18	37
14	Kawasaki Frontale	18	28
15	Tōkyō Verdy	18	28
16	Urawa Red Diamonds	18	25
17	Kashiwa Reysol	18	20
18	Yokohama F·Marinos	18	20
19	FC Mito Holly Hock	18	18
20	JEF United Ichihara Chiba	18	12

Head-to-Head

Albirex Niigata 6 games · Avg 2.0 goals Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Last 5 meetings

2025-07-20 Albirex Niigata 0–2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2025-04-29 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0–1 Albirex Niigata 2024-06-26 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1–1 Albirex Niigata 2024-05-03 Albirex Niigata 1–1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2023-07-01 Albirex Niigata 2–0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Recent Form

Albirex Niigata

Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Result
20 Jul	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	H	0–2	L
05 Jul	Kyōto Sanga FC	A	1–2	L
29 Jun	FC Machida Zelvia	H	0–4	L
25 Jun	Kawasaki Frontale	A	1–3	L
21 Jun	Avispa Fukuoka	A	2–3	L
15 Jun	Yokohama F·Marinos	H	1–0	W

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Result
20 Jul	Albirex Niigata	A	2–0	W
05 Jul	Fagiano Okayama FC	A	1–0	W
02 Jul	Vissel Kobe	A	0–1	L
28 Jun	Nagoya Grampus	H	1–2	L
22 Jun	Yokohama FC	A	4–0	W
14 Jun	Kashima Antlers	A	1–1	D

Key Stats

50% Both Teams to Score
H2H (6 games)

17% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history

43% Clean Sheets
Sanfrecce Hiroshima this season

Goal Timing (This Season)

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

0-15

1/1

16-30

3/2

31-45

3/–

46-60

2/2

61-75

5/–

76+

3/1

■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Akito Suzuki	6 G	2 A
Shun Ayukawa	3 G	1 A
Sebastien Haller	3 G	1 A
Mutsuki Kato	2 G	3 A
Shuto Nakano	2 G	1 A

Events

Match Events

0' Three points are at stake. Albirex Niigata host Sanfrecce Hiroshima — let the battle begin!
2' What composure from Shunki Higashi! The Japan international strokes it home. 0-1.
7' With 0 assists to his name this season, Yuji Ono is clearly more than just a goal scorer for Albirex Niigata.
12' The 25-year-old Hiroto Uemura has been sensational this season — 0 goals and 0 assists is a remarkable return.
17' Sanfrecce Hiroshima have won 444 goals from 342 games. They will be desperate to add to that tally today.
22' Sanfrecce Hiroshima are happy to let the opposition have the ball in their own half. The trap is set.
27' Matchday of the Array and both teams know exactly what is at stake tonight.
32' It looks surprising Albirex Niigata does not make any changes. Shuto Nakano has some obvious troubles when approaching to the goal.
37' Kosuke Kinoshita is putting in a real shift tonight. He has covered more ground than anyone else for Sanfrecce Hiroshima so far.
42' While there is no rush on the pitch, let’s have a look at some stats. Sota Nakamura made 342 appearances and scored 8 goals. He is very likely to score a goal today.
47' Sanfrecce Hiroshima fans have not had much to celebrate tonight. Their side is struggling to get forward.
48' GOAL! Kosuke Kinoshita fires home to make it 0-2!
53' The referee is likely to let players tackle, as he already missed some meaty challenges during opening seconds. He is still to establish what should not be done by the players and what is acceptable on the pitch. It’s going to be a tough game for Yotaro Nakajima suffering a number of foals already.
58' Spectators are craving for more action. Both teams play very cautiously. They need to put some more energy.
59' Albirex Niigata ring the changes. Keisuke Kasai has done his job and it is now time for Takuya Shimamura to step up.
64' A quiet spell here at Denka Big Swan Stadium. Albirex Niigata seem content sitting deep and soaking up pressure.
69' The referee reaches into his pocket. Out comes the card for Michael Fitzgerald.
71' Mutsuki Kato is ready to make an impact after coming on for Kosuke Kinoshita at the 71 minute mark.
72' Time for substitution for Albirex Niigata. Yuto Horigome is replaced by Kakeru Funaki.
77' Albirex Niigata is showing some good football. However, Albirex Niigata are ready to play back every minute. It might result in some problems for the home side. The game will hardly remain goalless.
79' Fresh legs for Sanfrecce Hiroshima! Naoto Arai comes on to replace Hayato Araki.
82' Albirex Niigata player sees a card in front of him.
84' The supporters are chanting for Ken Yamura. He replaces Jin Okumura on 84 minute.
89' Mutsuki Kato is a natural and has been asked to do a very specific job for Albirex Niigata tonight.
90' Time for substitution for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Ryo Germain is replaced by Valere Germain.
Both sets of fans can go home satisfied — a 0-2 draw is a fair result on the day.

Lineups

Albirex Niigata Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

77
Kakeru Funaki ↑ 72'
19
Yuji Hoshi ↑ 59'
18
Yamato Wakatsuki
28
Takuya Shimamura ↑ 59'
42
Kento Hashimoto ↑ 71'
15
Fumiya Hayakawa
33
Yoshiaki Takagi
9
Ken Yamura ↑ 84'
21
Ryuga Tashiro

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

10
Marcos Junior
98
Valere Germain ↑ 90'
18
Daiki Suga
41
Naoki Maeda ↑ 90'
13
Naoto Arai ↑ 79'
32
Sota Koshimichi
21
Yudai Tanaka II
35
Yotaro Nakajima ↑ 71'
51
Mutsuki Kato ↑ 71'

H2H

H2H Top Scorers

Player	Goals
Pieros Sotiriou	1
Kaito Taniguchi	1
Miguel Silveira	1
Shunki Higashi	1
Kosuke Kinoshita	1
Naoto Arai	1
Tsukasa Shiotani	1
Shunsuke Mito	1

Head to Head

Albirex Niigata Form

2025-07-20 Albirex Niigata 0–2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima L 2025-07-05 Kyōto Sanga FC 2–1 Albirex Niigata L 2025-06-29 Albirex Niigata 0–4 FC Machida Zelvia L 2025-06-25 Kawasaki Frontale 3–1 Albirex Niigata L 2025-06-21 Avispa Fukuoka 3–2 Albirex Niigata L 2025-06-15 Albirex Niigata 1–0 Yokohama F·Marinos W

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Form

2025-07-20 Albirex Niigata 0–2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima W 2025-07-05 Fagiano Okayama FC 0–1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima W 2025-07-02 Vissel Kobe 1–0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima L 2025-06-28 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1–2 Nagoya Grampus L 2025-06-22 Yokohama FC 0–4 Sanfrecce Hiroshima W 2025-06-14 Kashima Antlers 1–1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima D

Predictions

Prediction accuracy

3 / 4

0.94 Albirex Niigata xG

Expected Goals

Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo

1.29 Sanfrecce Hiroshima xG

I would bet for: Sanfrecce Hiroshima or Draw 72% + Under 2.5 goals 62%

Match Result

✓ Correct

Albirex Niigata28% Draw31% Sanfrecce Hiroshima41%

Actual: Sanfrecce Hiroshima win

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct

Yes45% 0% No55%

Avg goals/match: 2.23

Actual: No — clean sheet

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5

Line	Over	Under
± 0.5	87%	13%
± 1.5	65%	35%
± 2.5	38%	62%
± 3.5	19%	81%
± 4.5	8%	92%

Double Chance

Albirex Niigata or Draw

59%

Draw or Sanfrecce Hiroshima

72%

Albirex Niigata or Sanfrecce Hiroshima

69%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong

Albirex Niigata19% Draw52% Sanfrecce Hiroshima29%

Actual: Sanfrecce Hiroshima win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12

1 – 1

14%

0 – 0

13.1%

0 – 1

12.7%

1 – 0

8.9%

0 – 2

Actual

1 – 2

8.2%

2 – 1

5.9%

2 – 0

4.5%

2 – 2

3.9%

0 – 3

3.7%

1 – 3

3.6%

3 – 1

1.9%

Asian Handicap — Albirex Niigata

Handicap	Albirex Niigata covers	Push	Sanfrecce Hiroshima covers
-2.5	2%	—	98%
-2	2%	7%	91%
-1.5	9%	—	91%
-1	9%	16%	75%
-0.5	25%	—	75%
+0.5	57%	—	43%
+1	57%	23%	20%
+1.5	80%	—	20%
+2	80%	13%	7%
+2.5	93%	—	7%

Clean Sheet

Albirex Niigata keeps clean sheet

28% ✓

Sanfrecce Hiroshima keeps clean sheet

40% ✗

Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.