🏏 Sun, 6 Sep 2026 19:00 JST
Cerezo Osaka
vs
Tokyo Verdy
3-4-2-1 vs 3-4-2-1
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- Cerezo Osaka, eighth on nine points from five games (3W-2L, five scored and five conceded), host bottom club Tokyo Verdy, who have two points from five (0W-2D-3L, two scored and eight conceded, -6). With Machida Zelvia running away at the top on 16 points from six matches, Cerezo need three points to stay in touch with third-placed Kashima and fourth-placed Sanfrecce Hiroshima, while Verdy sit a single point behind 19th-placed JEF United Chiba.
- Cerezo's alternating W-L-W-L-W run hides a clear pattern: all three wins have come at home. They beat Fagiano Okayama 2-1 on the opening day, edged Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 and then saw off second-placed Kashiwa Reysol 2-0 last time out. Both defeats were away days, 3-0 at Avispa Fukuoka and 1-0 at Vissel Kobe, and they have yet to score on the road.
- Verdy remain without a win on D-L-D-L-L, having managed just two goals in five matches. A 1-1 draw with Kawasaki Frontale was followed by a 3-1 home loss to Kashiwa, a goalless draw at Okayama and back-to-back home defeats by 2-0 to Kashima and Vissel Kobe. Three games without a goal is the number that most needs changing here.
- This is a mirror match: 3-4-2-1 against 3-4-2-1, which puts one-versus-one duels down the flanks front and centre. Cerezo use Ayumu Ohata (25, LB) on the left, an AFC Champions League winner with Urawa Reds and a Paris Olympian with a strong left-footed cross, and Takumi Nakamura (25, RB) on the right. Verdy answer with left-footed Kashima academy graduate Shuhei Mizoguchi (22, LB) and the 166cm dribbler Yuta Arai (23, LM), who arrived via Maebashi Ikuei and Toyo University.
- Cerezo centre-back Shinnosuke Hatanaka (31, CB, 185cm) faces the club where he began his professional career. One of the best ball-playing defenders in Japan and comfortable on either foot, he played every minute of Yokohama F. Marinos' 2019 title-winning campaign and has been capped by Japan. How he plays through Verdy's pressing will shape the rhythm of the game.
- The midfield gulf is one of experience. Cerezo pair Jackson Irvine (33, CM, 187cm), the Australia international with 81 caps and 14 goals who captained St. Pauli in the Bundesliga, with Shunta Tanaka (29, CDM, 183cm), a former Consadole Sapporo man who has also played in defence. Verdy build through Kosuke Saito (29, AM), a long-serving Yokohama FC player, and Rei Hirakawa (26, AM), the FC Tokyo academy prodigy who featured at the U-17 World Cup.
- Verdy lead the line with Itsuki Someno (24, CF, 179cm), the former Kashima Antlers striker who was top scorer at the All-Japan High School Championship with Shoshi. His hold-up play, knack for winning penalties and willingness to press from the front are central to the visitors' plan. Cerezo's back three includes Rikito Inoue (29, CB), who worked his way up from J3 Gainare Tottori via Kyoto and Urawa, and Malaysia international Dion Cools (30, 185cm), a title winner at Club Brugge.
- Brazilian Thiago Andrade (25, LW), who has played for New York City FC, Toronto FC and in the Chinese league, leads the Cerezo attack, with Yota Komi (24, LM, 169cm) in the shadow role; the former Kashiwa and Albirex Niigata man frequently tops the running charts for both teams combined. Verdy respond with size and reading of the game through the 186cm, 85kg Ryota Inoue (26, CB), forged in J2 and J3 at Blaublitz Akita and Zweigen Kanazawa, and Paris Olympics generation defender Kaito Suzuki (24, CB) from Jubilo Iwata's academy.
- The goalkeeping match-up is a good one. Cerezo have Kosuke Nakamura (31, 185cm), a member of Japan's 2018 World Cup squad who also played for Portimonense in Portugal, against Verdy's Mateus (33, Brazil, 189cm), a Corinthians academy product who played all 42 J2 matches in 2023 to help the club return to J1 after 16 years. Nakamura excels at close-range stops, Mateus at commanding crosses.
- Cerezo hold the stronger bench. Shinji Kagawa (37, CAM) of Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United fame is among the substitutes, alongside Lucas Fernandes (32, Brazil, RM), a two-time J.League assists leader, and the 190cm, 91kg target man Solomon Sakuragawa (25, CF). Verdy can still change the picture with 20-year-old Soma Kanda (CF), signed from Kawasaki Frontale after starring for Shizuoka Gakuen, the 164cm Issei Kumatoriya (23, LW) and Kai Shibato (30, CDM), a veteran of Urawa Reds and Machida Zelvia.