GW 466 J1 League Predicted Lineups - DRAFT (Patreon)

Intro

Games are coming thick and fast! We have two games this midweek GW with one on Wednesday and the other Friday night.

Contender division isnt open sadly though as not enough licensed clubs playing.

League Table

Machida remain top after a win vs Kawsaki. Hiroshima and Cerezo are the only unbeaten side remaining and are just behind in the top 3.

Sapporo won their first game of the season but remain bottom. Sagaon and Shonan in very poor form and make up the bottom 3.

Still very early in the season of course and as Iwata showed last weeks with their couple of wins, things can change quick in this very competitive and topsy turvy league!

The below are the fixtures coming up this GW:

We should get more detailed info for the Wednesday game (YFM vs Gamba) including press conference.

For the Friday game, both teams only played yesterday and there was no training today as its recovery day. More risks of unknowns there esp the condition of injured players like Scholz and Sakai where we may not get any clear info before the deadline.

Predicted Lineups

Important to note the %s used here. If no %, it means I see them as a starter and no known risks. For sorare, its about there scorer potential so check out KEY PLAYERS even subs have a way :)

When 75% or below - there is some risk involved. My main aim with these is to show where risk/potential DNPs are lurking.

I base these %s on info I read from various sources including comments from the manager and reading a lot of local Japanese news coverage/message boards. Saying that, there will always be unknowns including last minute injury/illness of a player etc.

Always do your own research when making picks. For SO5, it can make sense to take some calculated risks depending on the potential score and the rest of your team/prize pool.

YFM vs Gamba

YFM

• Beat Kobe 2-1 on Sunday

• Hatanaka, Nagato and Elber not in the squad. All seen in training today (Monday). I expect all to be in the running to play midweek.

• Eduardo and Yan returned and got mins from bench.

• Koike also returned for his first minutes for over a year! He said after the game he still needs time before in the running to start games.

• Ken Watanabe situation a little more unclear

• YFM have had a very busy schedule, this is their 4th game inside 11 days. They also play again Wednesday before trip to S.Korea for huge ACL semi final game

• Manager has put an emphasis on not risking unfit players. We should get training notes before deadline and that can give good indicator of whose fav to play this game.

Key SO5 Players - Lopes, Elber, Eduardo, Popp

Set Piece Takers - Nagato, Yan

Gamba

• Rotated and lost for first time in season vs Sapporo.

• Kurokawa, Ysami and Welton expected to return

• Yamada, Alano and Kishimoto all likely out

• Handa missed the last game and is now with u23s for the asian cup

• Nakano started LB last game. Can also play RB. Fukuoka is naturally a CB but also an option at RB

• Midfield changing a little with Lavi, Dawhan/Suzuki battling it out for 2 spots. I have Lavi starting this game after being on bench last game.

• Sakamoto was ineffective as AM. Ishige another option.

Key SO5 Players - Nakatani, Usami, Ichimori

Set Piece Takers -  Usami, Suzuki

Kashiwa vs Urawa

Kashiwa

• Drew their 3rd game in row 1-1 on Sunday

• Savio scored and though he went off late on, from watching the footage, it looks like it was just exhaustion. Was seen celebrating with fans after the game.

• Hosoya and Sekine have now joined the u23 Japan team for the Asian cup. Will miss this game and could be away till early May.

Key SO5 Players - Koga, Inukai, Savio

Set Piece Takers - Savio

Urawa

• Dominant 3-0 win vs Sagan Tosu on Sunday

• Santana has scored in his last 3 games

• As of typing, no update on Scholz who was in light training last week

• Sakai also small injury. Ishihara dd very well on his debut

• Most likely lienup is same as previous game Okubo has returned to full fitness and pushing for start too.

• Havent lost to Kashiwa in their last 7 meetings.

Key SO5 Players -Gustafson, Ito, Hoibraten

Set Piece Takers - Gustafson, Iwao

Finish

Final copy will be sent tomorrow and I will post any late info on Discord too.

Any questions, just give me a shout!