🏏 Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:00 JST
Machida Zelvia
vs
Avispa Fukuoka
3-4-2-1 vs 3-4-2-1
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- Machida arrive fifth on 20 points from nine matches (6W-2D-1L) with a goal difference of plus 12, sitting three points behind leaders Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who have 23 points from ten games. With a match in hand, a home win would put Zelvia right on the shoulders of the title group. Avispa Fukuoka come in 17th on seven points from a 2W-1D-6L record, one behind 16th-placed Kyoto Sanga.
- Recent form points in opposite directions. Machida's last five read W-W-D-L-W: they were beaten 4-2 at home by Kashiwa Reysol in round eight before travelling to Kyoto Sanga and winning 1-0 with a clean sheet in round nine. Fukuoka's run of L-D-L-L-W includes blanks in a 1-0 defeat at Shimizu S-Pulse and a 1-0 home loss to Hiroshima, ended only by a 2-1 home win over Fagiano Okayama.
- The gulf between these sides is in the final third rather than at the back. Machida have scored 22 and conceded ten in nine matches; Fukuoka have 11 goals for and 13 against. The defensive records are only three goals apart, but the attacking output is double. For a team stuck on seven points, finding a way through one of the league's meanest defences is the whole game.
- Hiroyuki Mae faces the club where he made his name. The 31-year-old defensive midfielder spent five seasons as captain at Avispa Fukuoka and once played every league minute of a J1 campaign; now he lines up against them in Machida's engine room. His ball-winning and relentless covering runs make the central duels with his former team-mates the likely temperature gauge of the afternoon.
- This is a 3-4-2-1 mirror match, so the double pivot battle decides who dictates. Machida lean on 30-year-old Neta Lavi, a former Maccabi Haifa captain who won three straight Israeli titles before his spell at Gamba Osaka. Fukuoka answer with Keiya Shiihashi, the combative Ichiritsu Funabashi product who breaks lines with sharp vertical passes, alongside Masato Shigemi, whose retention and vision were honed at Fukuoka University.
- Aerial duels could define the contest. Tete Yengi, the 23-year-old Australian centre-forward who stands 197cm and helped Livingston to promotion in Scotland, leads Machida's line, while 192cm right wing-back Henry Mochizuki launches long throws that travel close to 50 metres. Fukuoka counter with a back three of 185cm pair Masaya Tashiro and Teppei Oka plus left-footed Yuma Tsujioka.
- Machida's two shadow strikers offer contrasting problems. Koki Ogawa, 186cm, was a J2 MVP after scoring 26 goals for Yokohama FC and later found the net regularly in the Eredivisie, thriving on hold-up play and a lightning release inside the box. Yuki Soma, just 166cm, is all acceleration and delivery, a Japan international who sharpened his game during a spell with Casa Pia in Portugal.
- Fukuoka's attack runs through Brazilian centre-forward Wellyk Popo, 25, a former Copa Sao Paulo top scorer who arrived via Fagiano Okayama and Red Bull Bragantino and offers height and raw power. Behind him, Tomoya Miki, who wore the number 10 at Tokyo Verdy and played 37 J1 matches, and ex-Kashima winger Shu Morooka must find space between Gen Shoji and Daihachi Okamura.
- The wing-back exchanges should be lively. Fukuoka's Yota Maejima has been a fixture on the left since joining permanently in 2022, while 33-year-old Masato Yuzawa on the right won the 2023 Levain Cup with the club and has passed 200 career league appearances. Machida reply with Takahiro Akimoto, a tireless all-rounder who has filled roles from forward to full-back, and the towering Mochizuki.
- Both benches carry late-game weapons. Machida can call on Takuma Nishimura, who once hit ten goals in 27 league games for Yokohama F. Marinos, playmaker Ryohei Shirasaki with 21 goals in 176 J1 appearances, and 35-year-old Australia international Mitchell Duke. Fukuoka hold back 193cm centre-back Kennedy Ebosele Mikuni and Takumi Kamijima, who helped win promotion in 2020 and has returned after five years away.