🏏 Sat, 29 Aug 2026 18:30 JST
Shimizu S-pulse
vs
Kashiwa Reysol
4-2-3-1 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Shimizu sit 15th on three points with a minus-one goal difference after three games, while Kashiwa arrive unbeaten in second with nine points and a plus-five swing. Reysol are just one point behind leaders Machida Zelvia, who have played four matches to Kashiwa's three, so a fourth straight win would put them within touching distance of top spot.
- The scoring gap is stark. Kashiwa have hit nine goals in three outings: 2-1 at home to Mito Hollyhock, three away at Tokyo Verdy and four in a 4-2 win over V-varen Nagasaki. Shimizu have managed only one goal all season, the winner in their opening 1-0 victory at Nagoya, followed by blanks at home to Yokohama F. Marinos and away at Cerezo Osaka.
- Shimizu's 4-2-3-1 meets Kashiwa's 3-4-2-1, which leaves the visitors' two shadow strikers operating either side of the home double pivot. Yoshio Koizumi is a two-footed attacking midfielder who won the AFC Champions League with Urawa and was named man of the match in their Club World Cup opener. Alongside him, Hinata Yamauchi came through Kawasaki Frontale's academy and finished as his university league's leading assist provider. Screening that space falls to 24-year-old Masaki Yuba, a left-footed holding midfielder out of Oita Trinita's academy who names N'Golo Kante and Kevin De Bruyne as his models.
- The centre-forward duel is worth the ticket alone. Shimizu's Oh Se-hun is a 193cm Korean striker, aged 27, who arrived via FC Machida Zelvia and Ulsan Hyundai and thrives on aerial duels and back-to-goal link play. Kashiwa counter with 187cm Yuki Kakita, 29, whose technical base was drilled into him by his Kashima-alumnus father and who scored 25 goals in two seasons at Tokushima to earn promotion.
- Taiyo Koga is the man who must handle Oh in the air. A Kashiwa academy product, the 27-year-old anchors the back three and is one of the league's best passing centre-backs, using a sharp left foot despite being right-footed to switch play. On the left, 182cm Daiki Sugioka brings physical duels and a dangerous delivery after spells at Kashima, Shonan and Machida.
- Ryo Germain carries Shimizu's hopes up front. The 31-year-old left-footed striker scored 19 goals in 32 matches for Jubilo Iwata in 2024 and threatens both in behind and with his back to goal. Wide on the right, 27-year-old Tomoya Fujii, a Sanfrecce Hiroshima graduate who has also played for Kashima and Shonan, offers pace in one-on-ones. With just one goal in three games, the pair need a big night.
- Kashiwa's engine room has a strong story. Koki Kumasaka, a 185cm midfielder who returned to his boyhood club via Tokyo International University, was called up by Japan in 2025 before rupturing his right ACL; he completed his first full 90 minutes in 446 days against Tokyo Verdy on 14 August 2026. His partner Atsuaki Nakagawa, 24, is nicknamed the Japanese De Bruyne and was MVP of the 2024 Denso Cup for his long-range shooting.
- Two former Reysol men wait on the Shimizu bench. Kei Koizumi, 31, played for Kashiwa before stints at FC Tokyo, Sagan Tosu, Kashima and Albirex Niigata, and is a ball-winning central midfielder with real duel strength. Kosuke Kinoshita, a 182cm forward, scored 11 goals for Kashiwa in 2024 to earn a move to Hiroshima and has played in four countries abroad, including Germany with SC Freiburg.
- Kashiwa's substitutes offer serious punch too. Mao Hosoya, 24, is a Japan international centre-forward from the club's academy who covers 50 metres in six seconds and specialises in runs behind the line. Koya Yuruki, 183cm, can cut in from the left, versatile 32-year-old Yusuke Segawa covers several roles, and 33-year-old Riki Harakawa is a precision dead-ball specialist from 30 metres.
- The goalkeeping matchup pits Shimizu's own academy graduate Togo Umeda, 26, who returned from a ruptured right ACL suffered on loan at Fagiano Okayama to post a save percentage above 90, against Kosuke Kojima. The 29-year-old Kashiwa keeper, formerly of Albirex Niigata and Oita Trinita, launches attacks with an accurate left foot and has U-20 World Cup experience.