🏏 Sat, 15 Aug 2026 18:55 JST
Fagiano Okayama
vs
V-varen Nagasaki
3-4-2-1 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Fagiano Okayama begin round two still searching for their first point, sitting 15th after a 2-1 defeat away to Cerezo Osaka. V-Varen Nagasaki are seventh on three points having edged Kyoto Sanga 2-1 at home. With Kashiwa Reysol already six points clear of the pack at the top, the hosts need a response and the visitors want back-to-back wins.
- Both sides line up in a 3-4-2-1, so the wing-backs may decide the mirror match. Okayama field two small, quick operators in 166cm Kosuke Shirai (RB, 32), a former regular at Consadole Sapporo, Kyoto Sanga and FC Tokyo, and 167cm Towa Yamane (LM, 27), who grew into a starter at Yokohama FC. Nagasaki counter with Hijiri Onaga (LB, 31), a veteran of Tokyo Verdy, Machida Zelvia and Omiya Ardija, and Masahiro Sekiguchi (RB, 28), who captained Ventforet Kofu to an Emperor's Cup title and into the AFC Champions League.
- The central midfield pairings are heavyweight. Nagasaki are anchored by Hotaru Yamaguchi (CDM, 35), a World Cup veteran of Cerezo Osaka, Vissel Kobe and Hannover 96 who once led the league in interceptions, alongside Riku Yamada (CDM, 28), an Omiya academy graduate with Kofu and Nagoya Grampus on his CV. Okayama's answer is Oberdan (CM, 31), a two-time K League Best XI selection at Pohang Steelers in 2023 and 2024 who describes himself as a 'connector'.
- Okayama's attack has an international flavour. The 191cm Brazilian Lucao (CF), two-footed and a handful in the air, started his professional career in North Macedonia and reached Okayama via Kagoshima United, Zweigen Kanazawa and Matsumoto Yamaga. Behind him are former Japan international Ataru Esaka (CAM, 34), a J.League Best XI pick during his Kashiwa Reysol days who returned from Ulsan, and Na Sang-Ho (LW, 30), a 2018 Asian Games gold medallist with 30 South Korea caps.
- Nagasaki match that experience up front. Ryogo Yamasaki (CF, 33) leads the line at 187cm, a target man who once scored an AFC Champions League hat-trick during his Nagoya Grampus spell. Feeding off him are Yuto Iwasaki (LW, 28), hailed as the best high-school striker in Japan during his Kyoto Tachibana days and later capped at senior level, and Motoki Hasegawa (CAM, 27), whose final ball was sharpened in J1 with Albirex Niigata.
- Height defines Okayama's back three: 191cm Yugo Tatsuta (28), who made his senior Japan debut in 2019, left-footed distributor Yoshitake Suzuki (28) and 188cm Hiroshi Omori (23), who jumped straight from J3 with Fukushima United and Tochigi SC to the top flight. Behind them stands one of the most unusual goalkeepers in J1: 196cm left-footed Berliner Moser (26), a Union Berlin academy product with Cercle Brugge and Danish and Austrian football in his past.
- Nagasaki's rearguard is built for aerial duels too. Brazilian Eduardo Giusti (CB, 29) stands 186cm, while Ryosuke Shindo (CB, 30) played the right of Sapporo's back three and has been called up by Japan, adding a set-piece goal threat. In goal, 190cm Masaaki Goto (32) brings the reliability that saw him play every league match for three consecutive seasons at Montedio Yamagata, plus the organising voice in front of him.
- Okayama's bench is stocked with attacking alternatives. Jun Nishikawa (RW), nicknamed the 'genius lefty' and a U-17 and U-20 World Cup participant, is joined by 182cm Kazunari Ichimi (CF, 28), who scored in the 2024 promotion play-off final that carried Okayama into J1. For control there is 35-year-old Ibuki Fujita, a Keio University graduate with Shimizu S-Pulse, Ehime, Matsumoto and Yamagata behind him, plus creative Yuta Kamiya (CAM, 29), a former Gangwon FC player in the K League.
- Nagasaki's substitutes carry real punch. Thiago Santana (CF, 33), 184cm and a proven scorer at Shimizu S-Pulse and Urawa Reds, waits alongside Diego Pituca (CM, 34), who made 169 competitive appearances for Santos and also played for Kashima Antlers. Club icon Takashi Sawada (LM, 35), central to the promotion campaign that took Nagasaki up, and 198cm goalkeeper Go Hatano (28) complete a deep bench.