GW 472 J1 League Preview - FINAL (Patreon)

Intro

We are in holiday season in Japan. Its "Golden Week" which is an annual holiday week and we get games at odd times too. This year the games include this Friday so a FULL list of games happening.

League Table

None of the top 4 teams won over the weekend!

Cerezo go top after picking up a point at home to a heavily rotated YFM

Hiroshima had a dominant first half but some slack defending meant they had to settle for a 2-2 draw vs Kawasaki

Kobe missed a penalty and a number of big chances but put in a mediocre performance in their local derby defeat to struggling to Kyoto

Sapporo remain bottom after letting a 3-0 lead slip to second bottom Shonan.

Its very tight from top to bottom! 11th placed Kashiwa could move up to 4th with their game in hand for example!!

Fixtures

The below are the fixtures coming up this GW:

Main Points

• Teams play Friday which is 3 days after the deadline = big risks of unknowns/training news.

• No players are suspended for the upcoming GW

• All teams play again again on Monday (GW372/wkend GW). As teams play on Friday, we will need to keep an eye out on those games to see a)lineups and b) potential suspensions or injuries! Lots to juggle I know :)

• YFM unsurprisingly rotated heavily over the weekend. Expect lots of rotation again with players like Lopes, Nagato and Yan vying to be back in the first X11. Watanabe and Kida are both back in full training and wanting to start.

Injury News

A few confirmed injuries from last couple of days and out for for upcoming GW

• Yamanaka (Nagoya)

• Akito Suzuki (Shonan)

• Capixaba (Cerezo) - Manager has said out for about a month

• JSR (Kawasaki) was injured in the warm up. No official news but atm Kamifukumoto likely to continue though not a situation I suggest trading into

• Kashif (FC Tokyo) doesnt have an injury imo. After watching the footage he was about to get subbed and landed awkwardly on his elbow but walked off fine.

• Okamura (Sapporo) in light training as of today. Wanting to play on Friday

• Mirua (Gamba) went off with a nasty looking knee injury and likely out for a while imo

YFM vs Iwata

• Rotated heavily in 2-2 draw to Cerezo

• Lopes should return to start. Other rested players like Eduardo/Hatanaka/Nagato/Yan all in contention to start

• Kida and Watanabe in training and keen to play.

• YFM play again on Monday vs Urawa which is a harder game.

• My hunch is they play close to their "strongest" X11 for Iwata game and sub early. In general, my confidence levels are low but this GW could be worth taking risk for high scoring potential players.

• IF NEWS COMES OUT FROM TODAYS TRAINING I WILL POST ON DISCORD. NOTHING YET

Iwata

• Won 2-0 vs Machida. Germain got his 10th of the season

• Matsubara picked up an injury. Unlikely to play next game. Uemura or Ogawa the likely replacement

• Fujiwara benched last game likely due to slight injury. Chance could be back

• In good form with 3 wins from last 5 games.

Key SO5 Players - Graca, Uehara

Set Piece Takers - Uehara

Niigata vs Hiroshima

Niigata

• Lost 1-3 to FC Tokyo on the wkend.

• Unchanged from the game before which is rare for Niigata!

• Deng fitness unclear, wasnt in squad llast game.

• Captain Yuto Horigome back in training and could return as LB

Key SO5 Players - Kojima, Fujiwara, Akiyama

Set Piece Takers - Takagi, Hasegawa

Hiroshima

• Unbeaten after 10 games and 3rd in the table

• Drew last 3 games. Poor defensive performance vs Kawasaki led to 2-2 draw

• Araki out injured. Nakano doing great as his replacement.

• Arai vs Koschimichi rotating for RWB

• Marcos Junior started last game. A bit rusty but came out of game feeling good.

• Kawamura missed the last game with an injury. Is in light training as of Saturday but atm unclear if will be fit to start on Friday

• Team has been v stable so far with limited rotation.

Key SO5 Players - Sasaki, Mitsuda, Ohashi

Set Piece Takers -  Higashi, Mitsuta,

Sagan vs Tokyo Verdy

Sagan

• Drew 1-1 against Kashiwa. Ryan got the goal. Defended very well

• CB Kimura is now with the U23 national team.

• Harada has missed last couple of games. Assumed injured.

• Honda is in training but yet to make the squad. Situation unclear.

• Manager is known to change things up but same lineup as last week fav.

Tokyo Verdy

• Unbeaten in 7 games. This includes 6 draws!

• Taniguchi picked up an injury and yet to be seen in training

• Miyahara was missing, manager has confirmed there is a "problem" with him but not clarified what therefore a doubt as not seen in training yet.

• Rest of team relatively stable

• Have had two clean sheets in a row

FC Tokyo vs Kyoto

FC Tokyo

• Impressive 3-1 win away to Niigata

•  Remain without Araki and Matsuki who are on international duty

• Ogashiwa picked an injury a couple of games ago and not seen in training yet. Assumed out. Terayama also got an injury and likely out.

• Diego returned from the bench and got a goal. He has said he still have pain in his shoulder meaning he may well be eased back/benched again. FC Tokyo have lots of injuries so want to be careful not to cause a longer injury for Diego

• Won their last 3 games vs Kyoto

Kyoto

• Huge win in local derby against Kobe with Hara getting the goal.

• Kawasaki is away on international duty and is a big miss for the side.

• Most likely to continue with similar team with Hara coming in for Sato

• Yoshinori Suzuki got first mins with team and now in contention to be starter CB

Cerezo vs Sapporo

• Drew 2-2 with YFM. Ceara scored both goals and missed a pen

• Kagawa returned as a starter. Capixaba is out injured. Tameda and Yamada most likely though could see tweak in formation and Bueno in

• Fernandes and Tanaka are facing their old side and have both spoken bullishly about the fixture

• Nishio has joined the u23 int team. Same back 4 as last game most likely

• Havent had a clean sheet vs YFM in their last 10 meetings.

Key SO5 Players - KJH,  Maikuma, Tanaka, Kagawa, Ceara

Set Piece Takers - Fernandes

Sapporo

• Will be gutted to draw 3-3 after being 3-0 up and in control of the game. Aoki got a couple of goals

• Form has improved after a miserable start and now 5 games unbeaten in all competitions.

• Okamura back in training and in contention. Hard to know if will be fit to start on Fri. Suga was out with an illness last game, not in training on Monday.

• Miyazawa picked up an injury on Sat and likely out.

• Kondo looking likely and a goal threat on the wing

Machida vs Kashiwa

 Machida

• Knocked off top spot aft they lost their 3rd game of the season to Iwata

• Mochizuki kept his spot at RB. He played well/hit the post so not guaranteed Suzuki returns yet. My gut is he does but big old risk!

• I do expect some changes eg Varquez starting. Overall lineup has been consistent but they have a big squad and lots of options available.

Key SO5 Players - Suzuki, Dresevic

Set Piece Takers - Suzuki

Kashiwa

• No loss in last 6 games. Unlucky to just draw against Sagan Tosu

• Hosoya and Sekine are wit the u23 team. Takamine is injured

• Kinoshita on bench again. Tactically being used later on in games.

• Manager has kept lineups similar most game, could be forced to make changes with fixture congestion. Like with so most of the games, its hard to know who/where it will happen

• Savio played well again the last game and unlucky not to get a decisive. At the centre of everything that Kashiwa are creating.

Kashima vs Shonan

Kashima

• Beat Gamba 2-1

• Same X11 expected as last game as Nago and Nakama in particular impressed after their return to the X11

• Shibasaki back in training but unclear if fit to start

• Are unbeaten against Shonan in their last 7 games.

Key SO5 Players - Ueda, Higuchi, Suzuki

Set Piece Takers - Higuchi

Shonan

• Winless in 8 games. Fought back from 3-0 down to tie with Sapporo. Have yet to get a clean sheet this season.

• Tanaka is away with the u23s now. HUGE miss. Tachi and Onose are out injured

• Lots of rotation risk here. Eg Hata did well last game when came on as sub

• Mawatari had a poor game imo. I want SBK to start start but its hard to know what the manager is thinking. One to monitor/use SBK is less important lineups for now

Fukuoka vs Gamba

Fukuoka

• 5 games unbeaten

• Konno returned last game

• Zahedi in excellent form with 5 goals from his 6 starts

• Sato came on at half time. Indication is he is in the running to start this game

• Nara returned to start. Miya assumed still out

• Failed to get a clean sheet vs Gamba in their last 5 matchups

Gamba

• Poor performance in defeat to Antlers on the wkend. Sakamoto with the Gamba goal.

• Miura went off with an knee injury. Assumed out. Fukuoka and Egawa likely replacements.

• Kishimoto went off at half time, unclear if it was an injury or tactical.

• Yamada returned last game. Lots of competition in AM roles

• Lavi and Dawhan in particular rotating in midfield.

• Handa is with u23 Japan side. Fukuoka is starting as RB

• Lavi and Dawhan in particular rotating in midfield.

• Alano and Matsuda out injured.

Kawasaki vs Urawa

Kawasaki

• Very inconsistent season so far. Did get a respectable 2-2 draw vs Hiroshima where they recovered from 2-0 down.

• Jesiel returned from injury and got mins. If fit, will start

• Maruyama and Miura all out injured. Takai away on int duty. JSR picked up an injury and assumed Kamifukumoto will continue for now

• Kobayashi scored and did well after coming on at half time. He also went off with an injury. Erison subbed at half time, atm unclear if that was tactical/injury. Yamada in running to start.

• For me, Tachibanada and Wakizaka are starters with the 3rd mid spot up for grabs.

Key SO5 Players - Wakizaka, Marcinho,

Set Piece Takers - Wakizaka,

Urawa

• Beat Nagoya 2-1 in controlled performance

• Yasui scored and did well as third mid

• Sakai not seen in training yet. Ishihara likely to continue but risk of change here

• Matsuo back to fitness and fighting to start vs Nakajima

Key SO5 Players -Gustafson, Ito, Hoibraten

Set Piece Takers - Gustafson,

Nagoya vs Kobe

Nagoya

• Lost for first time in 6 league games

• Ha Chang Rae returns from suspension at the back. Nogami likely returns to bench.

• Yamanaka confirmed injured. Junker and Yamagishi also out

• Similar setup to last game most likely with limited options available. Kubo and Uchida challenging Nakayama for starting spot

• Key SO5 Players -Inagaki, Morishima, Langerak

Kobe

• Lost in local derby to Kyoto. Osako missed pen and team failed to score despite having 34 shots.

• Manager is known to tweak/change things after a loss. Players like Hatsuse/Sasaki most at risk with Yuruki and Honda for example offering different options

• CBs did fine overall imo but lots of competition here with Iwanami in particular knocking on the door to start.

• Havent lose to Nagoya in their last 3 meetings.

Key SO5 Players - Sakai, Yamaguchi, Muto, Osako

Set Piece Takers -  Hatsuse

Final

In general, my confidence on the lineups is lower than normal. I personally will be taking more risks, concentrating on the players who have the potential to hit 100 points on their good day. Eg YFM is a big rotation risk at the same time, they have players who can hit 100s whereas players for Fukuoka rarely if ever hit 80+. so I would use them in threshold division but seldom my main contender teams

We are still getting training news eg from YFM and I will post any info I get on Discord