🏏 Sat, 8 Aug 2026 19:00 JST
Kashiwa Reysol
vs
Mito Hollyhock
3-4-2-1 vs 5-4-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Kashiwa Reysol and Mito Hollyhock both start the 2027 J1 season here. Gamba Osaka and Kashima lead the very early table on three points from the clubs who have already played. Kashiwa's 3-4-2-1 meets Mito's 4-4-2, so the structural question is whether Kashiwa's shadow strikers can receive between Mito's double pivot and centre-backs, and how Mito's midfield four shuts that door.
- Kashiwa's lone striker is the 187cm Yuki Kakita, 29, who combines aerial and hold-up work with runs into space and long solo breaks on the counter. He scored 25 goals in two seasons at Tokushima Vortis to help them reach J1, and his technical base was drilled into him by a father who played for Kashima. Mito's centre-backs are no small pair either: Yasuki Kimoto stands 183cm and Kenta Itakura 181cm.
- In the shadow roles, Kashiwa have Yoshio Koizumi, the 29-year-old playmaker who won the AFC Champions League with Urawa and was named man of the match in their opening Club World Cup game. He knits midfield to attack using both feet, while his partner Hyuta Yamauchi, 25, is a Kawasaki Frontale academy graduate who topped his university league's assist chart. How often those two can turn on the ball will define Kashiwa's central threat.
- The wing-back selections stand out. On the left, Keita Endo, 28, is a left-footed dribbler who won the J1 title with Yokohama F. Marinos, collected the Levain Cup New Hero award and spent time in Germany with Union Berlin. On the right, the 167cm Tojiro Kubo, 27, arrived via Fujieda MYFC, where he produced 10 goals and six assists, and he brings relentless forward drive from wing-back.
- Kashiwa's back three mixes technique and mobility. In the middle, academy graduate Taiyo Koga, 27, is right-footed but accurate with his left too, breaking lines with vertical passes and switches of play. Daiki Sugioka, 27, is a 182cm left-sided defender once labelled the best defender in Japanese high-school football, and Wataru Harada, 30, came up through the JFL and has been clocked at a top speed of 35.0 km/h.
- Mito pair experience with youth up front. Arata Watanabe, 31, captained Oita Trinita and scored 10 J2 goals in his first season out of university, and since joining Mito he has won monthly MVP honours in two consecutive months. Beside him, 21-year-old Kotaro Uchino stands 186cm, was the top scorer at the national high-school tournament with Shohei High School, and has represented Japan at U-22 level.
- Mito's midfield is stocked with small, technical operators. The 165cm Yoshiki Chokai, 28, scored nine goals in 33 J2 matches for Ventforet Kofu in 2025, while the 164cm Taishi Semba, 26, came through the Sanfrecce Hiroshima academy and was capped by Japan at every level from U-15 to U-17. Centrally, Yu Funabashi, 24, spent eight years in Kashima's academy and sets the tempo with his passing range.
- Both Mito full-backs push forward. On the right, Takumi Mase, 28, racked up 181 competitive appearances with seven goals and 18 assists at Vegalta Sendai and played all 38 J2 matches in 2025, having won the Inter-High title with Ichiritsu Funabashi. Nagio Omori, 26, offers a left-footed set-piece delivery from the left of the defence and can cover centre-back, left-back and midfield.
- Kashiwa's bench is full of game-changers: academy-raised striker Mao Hosoya, 24, who covers 50 metres in six seconds and has played for Japan; dead-ball specialist Riki Harakawa, who regularly hits the target from 30 yards; the 183cm dribbler Koya Yuruki, 31; and 34-year-old Hayato Nakama, a Kashiwa youth product who later played for Kashima and Roasso Kumamoto.
- Mito's substitutes offer variety of their own. Mateus Leiria, the 31-year-old Brazilian winger, has played in Denmark, Greece and Albania and won a J3 monthly MVP award at Kataller Toyama. Chihiro Kato, 27, brings 34 J1 appearances and three goals from his Vegalta Sendai days, and the 184cm Akinari Kawamo, 32, gives the visitors extra height if the closing stages turn into an aerial battle.