In my opinion Tochigi have really good chances to avoid loss in this game.

According to many sources both teams today will use rotation and we will see on the pitch many second-choice players, but I believe this is advantage for guests as they have bigger depth and quality in their squad.

Akita motivation in this tournament is under big question mark as they are only 4 points behind play off zone and for sure league is their main priority. I not will be surprised if they not take this game 100% seriously because in last two seasons they losing in opening match of this competition.

I think Tochigi looking for deep run in this competition, same as in previous season when they finished in round of 16. Maybe they wants to go even further?

Akita currently is in very bad form as they failed to win in last 4 matches and during that poor run they were able to score only one goal. Morale in team for sure is on very low level.

On the other hand Tochigi didn’t lost in last two matches in a row. I’m sure all team wants to continue good moment especially before upcoming important league matches.

I see Tochigi as a more motivated team to get qualification into next round.

在我看来，枥木在这场比赛中有很好的机会避免失败。

根据许多消息来源，今天两支球队都将使用轮换，我们将在球场上看到许多第二选择球员，但我相信这对客队来说是有利的，因为他们的阵容有更大的深度和质量。

秋田在这次比赛中的动机是一个很大的问号，因为他们只落后季后赛区4分，当然联赛是他们的首要任务。如果他们没有百分之百认真对待这场比赛，我不会感到惊讶，因为在过去的两个赛季中，他们在这项赛事的首场比赛中就输了。

我认为枥木在这场比赛中寻找深度，就像上个赛季他们进入16强一样。也许他们想更进一步?

秋田现在的状态非常糟糕，因为他们最近4场比赛都没有赢球，在这段糟糕的比赛中他们只进了一个球。团队的士气肯定处于非常低的水平。

另一方面，枥木在最近两场比赛中没有输掉比赛。我相信所有的球队都想继续保持这一美好的时刻，尤其是在即将到来的重要联赛之前。

我认为枥木是一支更有动力的球队，会进入下一轮。