The sides are level on five points - three ahead of both Sydney FC and Shanghai Shenhua - going into a game moved to the National Stadium in Tokyo after Kashima's home ground sustained damage in the recent earthquake.

"Tomorrow's game will be important to decide the leader of this group," said Yoon.

"I don't think our ACL campaign this year has gone well so far, so we want to win tomorrow. We want to play the round of 16 at home.

"The physical aspect can be a crucial part of the game. Kashima can focus on tomorrow's game as they don't have J.League matches at the moment.

"But if we can carry over our good momentum from the K-League, that can be our advantage."

The teams drew 1-1 in Korea at the start of the month - one of only two games Kashima have played since March's natural disaster.

Boss Oswaldo Oliveira hopes his men can build on last week's impressive 3-0 victory at Sydney FC.

"We had a tough game in our last match with Suwon and it can be tougher tomorrow," said the Brazilian.

"But if we produce a team effort as we did last week (at Sydney), we can get a better result.

"We had a few chances in the first half last time (against Suwon) and could have won the game if we had scored any of them."

Sydney travel to Shanghai Shenhua in the other game with the hosts missing midfielders Yu Tao and Song Boxuan through injury.

"We must avoid unnecessary mistakes in a hard game," said boss Xi Zhikang.

"My side have to battle for control of midfield in the clash. We will have better chances of winning the match if our midfield play proves efficient.

"It will be a do-or-die game for us tomorrow. It will be a battle of tactics. My players are fully prepared for this important match."

Nick Carle, who missed the 3-0 loss to Kashima last week with a hamstring strain, could return for Sydney.

In Group F, Al Ain host Hangzhou Greentown knowing only victory will keep alive their hopes of a last-16 place.

"This is a very important game for us," said Al Ain boss Alexandre Gallo.

"This is probably our last chance to qualify so we will be going all out to win."

Nagoya travel to FC Seoul looking to close a three-point deficit to the leaders, although striker Keiji Tamada is sidelined.

In Group D, Zob Ahan will be keen to retain top spot when they welcome Al Rayyan but will be without suspended midfielder Ghasem Hadadifar, while Al Shabab will continue their pursuit of the Iranians when they travel to Emirates, for whom prolific striker Nabil Daoudi is a doubt.

Finally in Group A, Al Sadd can virtually guarantee their place in the knockout stage with victory at Al Nassr but defender Nadir Belhaj and midfielder Wesam Rizik are suspended.

The other game sees bottom side Pakhtakor entertain Esteghlal where anything less than victory will realistically end the Uzbeks' qualification hopes.