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Kashima Antlers and Auckland City meet on Thursday at 08:30 in a duel valid for the playoffs phase of the FIFA Club World Cup. The winner of this match progresses to the quarterfinals to face Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.
Kashima Antlers
Kashima Antlers qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup after being the Japanese Champion and taking the place in the host country, as the competition takes place in Japan where the first round in first place ended, fell in the second round to the To be in the lower half of the qualifying table, but managed the title by beating Urawa Red Diamonds in the final.
The team usually plays in a 4-2-3-1 system with 2 outfits coming into the game and 3 offensive socks that also help in scoring when needed, as well as sides that are very supportive of the attack. It is a team that usually acts with great movement of its offensive pieces, which makes difficult the marking by the opponent, since the players of front of Kashima do not mark fixed position.
In the last 10 matches he played, Kashima Antlers had 5 wins and 5 losses, scoring 11 goals and conceding 9 goals, which shows only a reasonable performance but with few goals conceded. The highlight of the team is the experienced Kanazaki who scored 13 goals and distributed 7 assists in 2016.
Auckland City
Auckland City qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup after being the OFC Champions League winner with a great campaign where they won all the games in the group stage, went through no major problems in the semifinals and in the final had a great performance by beating the Team Wellington by 3 to 0 to win the competition.
Auckland often play in a 4-4-2 system with two open socks on the sides of the field, a midfielder and an offensive midfielder who is often responsible for creating plays, as well as sides that support quite offensively, while the front An attacker acts with greater movement, while another plays more fixed and close to the opposing defenders.
In the last 10 games Auckland City have won 7, a draw of 2 defeats, having scored 20 goals and conceded only 5, which dismantles good balance between the offensive and defensive sectors. But it has to be emphasized that it faces teams well inferior to the adversaries of Kashima Antlers in the Japanese Championship.
Prediction: Kashima Antlers Win @ 1.42