🏏 Sat, 23 May 2026 14:00 JST
Avispa Fukuoka
vs
Vissel Kobe
3-4-2-1 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- This meeting between 15th-placed Avispa Fukuoka (17 points from 17 games) and 4th-placed Vissel Kobe (26 points from 15 games) is an important game in the upper-table race for Kobe, who trail leaders Kashima (34 points from 15 games) by eight points. Fukuoka are winless across their last five with four draws and a loss, sitting in the danger zone just three points clear of 17th-placed, drop-zone Mito (14 points from 16 games), and will be desperate to start a run of four matches with a win.
- In the first meeting in Matchday 4 at Kobe's home, Kobe won 2-1, so Fukuoka will want revenge at home. Fukuoka have a defensive problem, conceding 26 goals in 17 games, but Kobe have also lacked defensive stability, suffering heavy defeats of 0-5 to Gamba Osaka and 0-3 to Okayama in their last five.
- With both sides using a 3-4-2-1, the battle between the wing-backs will be key. Fukuoka's left WB Yota Maejima (178cm, formerly of Yokohama FC) and right WB Kaori Yamawaki (promoted from J3 side Kitakyushu, 3 goals in 36 games) push up and down the flanks, while Kobe's former Japan international Gotoku Sakai (176cm, a former Hamburger SV captain) and Rikuto Hirose (176cm, formerly of Kashima) look to dominate the wide areas.
- Kobe's attack is strong with a front three of Yuya Osako (a 2018 World Cup Japan representative and former Werder Bremen man), Yoshinori Muto (formerly of Mainz and Newcastle) and Daiki Sasaki (formerly of Giravanz Kitakyushu). Osako in particular is a striker with abundant international experience, and a tough test is in prospect for Fukuoka's back three of Yuma Tsujioka, Takumi Ueshima (186cm) and Teppei Oka (185cm).
- Kobe's goalkeeper is former Japan international Shuichi Gonda (35, a 2022 Qatar World Cup representative), with a Brazilian centre-back pairing of Caetano (left-footed, formerly of Corinthians) and Mateus Thuler (186cm, a former Flamengo and Brazil U-20 player) in the back three. Whether Fukuoka's lone striker Sei Usui (183cm, formerly of Kataller Toyama, 9 goals in J3) can prise open this resolute defence is a highlight.
- One to watch in the former-club category is Kobe goalkeeper Obi Powell Obinna (193cm, a former Vissel Kobe man). He is on Fukuoka's bench, and should he play he will want to make his presence felt against his old side. In Kobe's midfield, veteran Takashi Inui (37, formerly of Eibar and Real Betis and scorer against Senegal at the 2018 World Cup) waits on the bench as a potential game-changer.