🏏 Sun, 6 Sep 2026 19:00 JST
Kashiwa Reysol
vs
Yokohama F. Marinos
3-4-2-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Kashiwa Reysol arrive in second place on 12 points from five matches, having won four and lost one, with 10 goals scored and six conceded for a plus-four differential. They sit behind leaders Machida Zelvia, who have 16 points from six games, meaning Reysol have a match in hand on the top of the table. Yokohama F. Marinos are 11th on seven points from two wins, one draw and two defeats, with eight scored and eight conceded.
- The recent form lines could hardly be more different. Kashiwa opened the campaign with four straight wins before losing 2-0 away at Cerezo Osaka in round five, their first defeat of the season. Yokohama's sequence reads L-W-W-L-D, most recently a 1-1 home draw with Kyoto Sanga, a run that captures a side yet to string results together.
- Kashiwa's 3-4-2-1 meets Yokohama's 4-2-3-1, and the battle for central control looks decisive. Left-footed Yudai Konishi, a Gamba Osaka academy product who knows manager Ricardo Rodriguez's ideas inside out, partners 24-year-old Atsuaki Nakagawa, dubbed a 'Japanese De Bruyne' for his two-footed long-range shooting and named MVP of the 2024 Denso Cup. Yokohama counter with homegrown Riku Yamane alongside Kosuke Matsumura, still a Hosei University student on a special designated contract.
- Keita Endo returns to face his former club. The 28-year-old left winger won the J1 title with Yokohama F. Marinos and collected the Levain Cup New Hero award there before moving to Union Berlin in Germany. Now starting on Kashiwa's left flank, his acceleration, close control and delivery from wide areas make him the most direct route through the visitors' back line.
- Yokohama have fielded four natural centre-backs across the defensive line: Ryotaro Tsunoda, Kosei Suwama, Jeison Quinones and Taisei Inoue. Tsunoda is a left-footed 184cm builder with spells at Cardiff City and Kortrijk behind him, Suwama a 186cm academy graduate, and the 187cm, 86kg Colombian Quinones brings aerial dominance and physical duels. They must handle a 184cm target man in Shota Fujio.
- Fujio leads the Kashiwa line at 184cm, a 25-year-old whose aerial work and hold-up play carried Machida to the J2 title and promotion after loan spells at Tokushima and Mito from the Cerezo Osaka academy. Behind him, Yoshio Koizumi operates as a shadow striker; the 29-year-old won the AFC Champions League with Urawa and threads through-balls with either foot. Getting Fujio running in behind is Kashiwa's clearest attacking pattern.
- Yokohama's attack is built on pace. Kaina Tanimura, a late developer at 28 who rediscovered his scoring touch after switching back to forward at Iwaki FC, leads the line with relentless pressing. Behind him, 33-year-old Ryo Miyaichi, once of Arsenal and Feyenoord, still carries the explosive speed that survived repeated serious knee injuries, flanked by Rio Futada, a former third-tier top scorer in Austria, and the quick Yuki Kondo.
- The goalkeeping contrast is intriguing. Kosuke Kojima, 29, distributes with a precise left foot and doubles as the first step of Kashiwa's build-up after spells at Albirex Niigata and Oita Trinita and a U-20 World Cup appearance. Yokohama trust 40-year-old Hiroki Iikura, an academy graduate with more than 16 years at the club who returned after three and a half seasons at Vissel Kobe, known for aggressive sweeping off his line.
- Both benches carry match-changing options. Kashiwa can call on Japan international Mao Hosoya, timed at six seconds over 50 metres, and 185cm midfielder Koki Kumasaka, who completed his first full 90 minutes in 446 days against Tokyo Verdy on 14 August 2026 after rupturing his right ACL. Yokohama hold back 35-year-old set-piece specialist Jun Amano, J1 duel king Kei Chinen, club captain Takuya Kida and 16-year-old Makoto Miidera.
- Academy ties cut across this fixture. Yokohama substitute Kanta Sekitomi came through Kashiwa Reysol U-18 before Toin University of Yokohama and a special designated debut with Marinos, so the left-back faces the club that raised him. On the other bench sits Koya Yuruki, the 183cm dribbler who was named MVP of the Club Youth Championship during his time in the Marinos youth setup, still famous for attacking from the left-hand 45-degree zone.