🏏 Sun, 6 Sep 2026 18:00 JST
Kashima
vs
Urawa
4-4-2 vs 4-1-4-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Third-placed Kashima Antlers, on 12 points, host 14th-placed Urawa Reds, who have six. With Machida Zelvia leading on 13 and Kashiwa Reysol level on 12 but with a superior goal difference, Kashima can climb sharply with a win. Neither defence has been tight — Kashima have conceded 10 in five games, Urawa 15 — while both attacks have been productive, with 13 and 11 goals respectively.
- Kashima opened the season with four straight wins before suffering a first defeat, 4-2 away at Mito Hollyhock in Round 5. Their range has been wide: a 4-3 shootout won away at Yokohama F. Marinos in Round 1 and a 2-0 clean sheet at Tokyo Verdy in Round 4. At home they edged Nagoya Grampus 2-1 and Avispa Fukuoka 3-2, so tight margins are nothing new here.
- Urawa have recovered from a dreadful start. They lost 4-3 at Gamba Osaka, 4-1 at home to Sanfrecce Hiroshima and 3-1 away at Machida Zelvia in the opening three rounds, then beat Yokohama F. Marinos 3-2 at home and won 3-2 away at Avispa Fukuoka. The 15 goals conceded remain a glaring number heading into a trip to one of the league's sharpest attacks.
- Kashima's front two carry real weight. Yuma Suzuki, 30, is the emotional leader, a powerful centre-forward with Sint-Truiden experience who creates as much as he scores. Alongside him, 31-year-old Brazilian Leo Ceara has hit double figures in five consecutive J.League seasons and finished as top scorer in 2025 during Kashima's title campaign. Urawa answer with 184cm Brazilian Danilo Boza, a Brazilian Serie A veteran, and left-footed 23-year-old Kenta Nemoto.
- Urawa's lone striker is 26-year-old Hiaya Komori, who swept the J2 individual honours — top scorer, MVP and Best XI — and has since had a spell at Sint-Truiden. He can finish with either foot or his head. Waiting for him is Japan international Naomichi Ueda, 31, whose 6.1-second 50m pace and spells at Cercle Bruges and Nîmes back up his aerial dominance, plus left-footed South Korean centre-back Kim Tae-hyeon.
- The goalkeeping matchup is a highlight in itself. Kashima's Tomoki Hayakawa, a 187cm 27-year-old, was named J.League MVP and in the Best XI in 2025 on the strength of his shot-stopping. Urawa counter with 40-year-old Shusaku Nishikawa, a left-footed distributor with more than 600 J1 appearances whose kicking underpins their build-up from the back.
- The central battle should decide the tempo. Kashima pair Kento Misao, 30, once dubbed 'the Xabi Alonso of Verdy's youth team' and now enriched by spells in Portugal and Belgium, with 28-year-old Brazilian Matheus Bueno, who arrived via Shimizu S-Pulse and Gil Vicente. Urawa's 4-1-4-1 is anchored by Ryuki Sese, formerly of Stoke City and Kawasaki Frontale, whose tempo control has drawn Pirlo comparisons.
- Both teams have quality wide. Kashima start Slovakian Aleksandar Cavric on the right, a 186cm attacker with pace and technique who came through Slovan Bratislava and Genk, with Meiji University graduate Haruki Hayashi on the left. Urawa use 29-year-old Takuro Kaneko, a left-footed cut-in specialist with Dinamo Zagreb and Kortrijk on his CV, while left-back Kotaro Hayashi brings a long throw that functions like a set piece.
- There are fresh faces in the Urawa midfield. Atsushi Inagaki, born in 2005, came through Urawa's junior youth and youth sides before Meiji University, and starts as a JFA/J.League special designated player with his full transfer already agreed for the 2027 season, despite being a centre-back by trade. He is joined by left-footed Hayate Ueki, formerly captain at Nihon University.
- The benches promise plenty for the closing stages. Kashima can call on 34-year-old Gaku Shibasaki, who spent seven seasons in Spain and scored twice against Real Madrid in the 2016 Club World Cup final, the rapid Yuta Matsumura and 18-year-old Minato Yoshida, the youngest J1 debutant in club history. Urawa hold Flamengo-schooled Matheus Savio, Ado Onaiu, who scored in his first three Japan appearances, and 22-year-old Haruki Minamino.