GW363 - J1 League Report for Sorare (Patreon)

Intro

We have a full schedule of J1 League games to look forward to this weekend!

All games will be happening tomorrow. The weather looks awful on mainland Japan and most games will have heavy rain either before or during the game. I dont expect at the moment any games to be called off, but I do expect the general quality of games to be lower esp with teams who play fast football like Hiroshima and YFM.

The full schedule including the games on Youtube International can be found below:

Predicted Lineups

These can also be found on Playsharper website here

The injury tracker can be found here

Important to note the %s used here and where they are not above 75% it is because I feel 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.

These are my own opinion of the situation at each team. I try to be as neutral as possible but we all have biases :) So always do your own research when making picks!

Yokohama FC vs Hiroshima

Notes

• Brodersen didnt start the last game, he had a slight setback in the league cup game last week. Its uncertain if hes fit enough to start here, meaning Ichikawa likely to start again.
• Yokohama are in awful form and havent won yet, sitting bottom of the league with just 2 points. Though there are only a few cards available, I see no upside in owning them currently.

Notes

• Kawamura went off with an injury in the last game and hasnt been seen in training. Matsumoto condition is also unclear.
• Pieros Sotiriou came on off the bench and is pushing for a start with another change in formation being considered ie 2 up front. Douglas Vieira scored from the bench again and depending on his fitness could start here
• Sota Koshimichi impressed last game and is a player to monitor. Hiroshima have a great youth academy and bringing through players

Odds

Prediction

YFC have struggled all season and I see this continuing against a strong Hiroshima side whose pace in particular will cause this YFC team defense problems

YFC 1 - 3 Hiroshima

Niigata vs Fukuoka

Notes

• Fitzgerald likely returns from suspension to partner Deng at the back
• I expect the team to remain relatively stable from the last game with Ryotaro pulling the strings in midfield

Notes

• Miya has been reported to be seen in training. Nothing concrete so im uncertain his condition/ability to start.
• Manager also gave nothing away in terms of if the team will play 3 or 4 at the back.

Odds

Prediction

Both teams have impressed so far this season, with Fukuoka currently 4th in the league and Niigata playing great football so far this season. At home especially, I have been impressed by Niigata and I see them winning this game.

Niigata 2 - Fukuoka 1

Urawa vs Sapporo

Notes

• Sakai is injured for this game. He is aiming to return for the ACL game at the end of the month
• Urawa have been practicing training with 3 at the back (Scholz, Hoibraten, Iwanami) - its unclear if they will change formation and the manager has been relatively consistent with things
• Mawatari is the natural replacement. Ogiwara/Ohata/Akimoto can play on both sides if needed - at the moment theres is no indication who will be preferred
• Koroki has been playing well and I see him starting against his former team
• Moberg and Schalk arent yet up to full fitness so I see the same midfield playing here

Notes

• Lots of players returning to fitness for Sapporo. This includes Komai, Miyazawa and Sugeno. They are all pushing for minutes in this game and from the bench seems most likely
• Ogashiwa seen in training. He has a history of being injury prone/conditioning issues however there seemingly is no issue currently. I have cautiously put him in the starting line up.
• Fukumori has done well in midfield. There is alot of competition in this spot and though I much prefer him here over defense, its too early to know if this will be a perm switch

Odds

Prediction

Urawa have been very solid though lacking a cutting edge upfront. Sapporo have been the exact opposite so this makes this game very intriguing. I think, with home advantage, Urawa will be able to get a narrow win.

Urawa 1-0 Sapporo

Kawasaki vs Nagoya Grampus

• Kurumaya is suspended for this game
• There are limited options at the back with Tanabe not seen in training after going off with an injury. There is talk that youngster Kota Takai will start
• Frontale have been very inconsistent and playing poorly. There is no simple solution for them but it makes them much harder to read in terms of starting X11 especially after a defeat in the last game
• In particular, midfield we have players such as Wakizaka and Schmidt both pushing for starts in place of Seko and Chanathip/Tono
• Damiao also could start this game. He hasnt looked fully fit to me hence why im cautious on this front

Notes

• Izumi is back in full training
• I expect him to be on the bench as Uchida has been playing well. Outside this, there is no known injuries so I expect the same X11 as last GW

Odds

Prediction

Kawasaki have been very poor this season and if anything, fortunate in some games to snatch wins (eg vs Sapporo). Nagoya have been very solid though lacking the killer instinct. I see them being able to cause this makeshift Kawsawki defence troubles especially on the counter. I see them winning with set pieces being an area where Kawasaki are in particular vulnerable.

Kawasaki 1- 2 Nagoya

Shonan vs Yokohama FM

Notes

• Onose is back in training and in line to return to the starting X11
• Barada also in training - he missed preseason so it will take some time for him to be match fit
• SBK also in training. This is good news however I am uncertain of the situation in nets especially with Tomii doing fine. I still think SBK will be number 1 this season  but would be cautious in using this GW/use in less important team.

Notes

• Matsubara has been training all week and has said hes fit to play. YFM are generally cautious with injured players so its not certain he will start
• Eduardo is also in full training. So far Tsunoda & Hatanaka have been the pref combo and this is the most likely again for this game.
• Nishimura is also in full training and ready to play. MJ did well last game so this spot is also hotly contested. I give the slight edge to Nishimura based on how Muscat has picked previously but be aware, the manager himself has said he hasnt decided yet who he will pick! I own both MJ and Nishimura so will only use in less important teams

Odds

Prediction

I think this is another game where the weather will effect the play. I expect it to be an even game which ends in a score draw

Shonan 1- 1 YFM

Sagan Tosu vs Kashiwa Reysol

Notes

• Sagan have a lot of injuries including Fujita, Nakahara and Iwasaki who are all doubts for this game. This is on top of Togashi and Seok Ho Hwang who are confirmed out for this game.
• Harada played some minutes last game and I expect him to return to the defense

Notes

• Kashiwa finally won for the first time in their last game. They also got a cleansheet with Matsumoto surprisingly starting the last game
• I favour him to continue as havent seen Morita in training pics. Sasaki looks to be out of favour after his mistakes this season
• Manager has said he wants to continue with 4 at the back. I see a similar lineup from the last game continuing

Odds

Prediction

It will be interesting to see if Kashiwa can build on last games win. They have some quality players and have lacked confidence. Sagan is never an easy game, I expect a draw to be the likeliest outcome.

Sagan Tosu 2 - 2 Kashiwa Reysol

Kashima Antlers vs Vissel Kobe

Notes

• Kashima havent won in 5 league games, lost 3 on the bounce. The manager is under a lot of pressure
• Sano is out injured. There is talk of Matsumura coming in. Araki and Doi are also viable options though Doi is an injury concern.
• I expect Higuchi to return as Antlers looked much better with him playing
• In defence, there is also talk about Sekigawa and Hirose to come in for Shoji and Tsunemoto. I am uncertain on this but have lowered the starting %s here as I do seem them as risky options.

Notes

• No fresh injury concerns for Kobe. I expect them to continue with the same team as the last two outings

Odds

Prediction

This is a make or break game for the Antlers manager Iwamasa who is under a lot of pressure esp from fans. Kobe have been the form team this year and overall I see a score draw being the outcome.

Kashima Antlers 1 - 1 Vissel Kobe

FC Tokyo vs Cerezo Osaka

Notes

• Abe and Watanabe are both match fit. I see Watanabe in particular pushing for a start

Notes

• Maikuma seen in training though is still a risk for this game
• Capixaba played well last week - he will be looking to start again
• Alot will depend on the formation eg Kagawa struggled last week and the formation could be tweaked to see him play further up.

Odds

Prediction

FC Tokyo are unbeaten at home this season and with the home backing and injured players returning, I see them winning a tight content with Cerezo.

FC Tokyo 2 - 1 Cerezo Osaka

Kyoto Sanga vs Gamba Osaka

Notes

• Takeda is confirmed out with an injury
• Ota surprisingly started in the last game. I have him starting again but its a situation in general I dont like. The manager has previously dropped Wakahara and Hahn and Wood also are waiting for chances.

Notes

• Had an impressive 2-0 win against Frontale with Tani getting the cleansheet
• Ishige did well last game and though Usami came on and got some mins last week, he may well be on the bench again depending on his fitness levels
• Kwon went off with an injury but has been seen in training and should start here.

Odds

Prediction

I expect this local derby to be an evenly matched game and a draw the most likely outcome.

Kyoto 1 - 1 Gamba

Finish

I hope found this useful!

As always these are just my own views on the situation based on research for each team. There are press conferences happening currently though what info comes out varies by the club and managers mood!

I will be updating the Discord Channel with any info I see that could prove useful all the way to deadline, so keep a look out for that

J1 2023 cards

The licenced teams on the Sorare site have been updated and the J1 teams have returned! This looks v positive news and hopefully we see the new cards very soon.

I plan to send out info for Tier 2 and Tier 1 patreons on young players & players without cards I think have a lot of potential. Secondly, I will do a post on SRs and threshold grinding using the calendar over summer in particular

If you have any feedback or queries, just give me a shout on Discord

Good luck!