Sorare Tactics

GW 494 J1 League Preview - Final

Added 2024-07-19 05:30:43 +0000 UTC

Full schedule of J League action coming up this weekend!

Fixtures

J1 Table

Machida kept their 5 point lead at the top with another win against local rivals Tokyo Verdy. Gamba kept up the pressure with a 2-0 win away at Sagan Tosu with Kobe and Antlers dropping back after disappointing displays.

Sapporo grabbed their first point in 9 games with a 1-1 draw against Kobe. Will be disappointed not to grab the win with a much improved performance. They are 12 points from safety and face a near impossible task to get to safety.

Shonan impressed in a 5-0 win over Iwata and now are just 1 point from safety. Kawasaki, Niigata and Iwata are all being sucked into the relegation battle.

Main Points

Sekine (Kashiwa), Yamada (Verdy), Oh Se Hun (Machida), Gomez (Niigata), Graca (Iwata) are all suspended.
Matsuki (FC Tokyo) has been allowed to leave to complete an upcoming transfer
Sakai (Kobe) is confirmed out for 8-10 weeks with a broken toe. Miyashiro is also out injured
Kojima (Niigata) seen in light training but atm remains a doubt. Popp missed the last game and Iikura fav to continue in short term.
Harry Kewell sacked for YFM. Assistant manager takes over, nothing drastic expected in terms of lineup.
Kawashima is v likely out. Sugimoto started last game, Miura also possible.
The u23 Olympics teams was announced. This will be covered by Sorare. The below are the players who have been called up from J league sides.
They have all travelled to France in prep for the opening game and will not be available.
Uenaka (YFM), Yamama (Verdy), Suzuki (Iwata) have all been called up as backups
Gamba have just 1 loss in their last 11 games.
Machida are unbeaten in 6 with 4 wins.
Cerezo are unbeaten in 8 league games.
Kawasaki have drawn their last 5 games and have just 1 win in their last 10 games.
Sapporo have lost their last 8 games failing to score in each of their last 4 games.

Predicted Lineups

Important to note the %s used here. If no %, it means I see them as a starter and no known risks. For sorare, its about there scorer potential so check out KEY PLAYERS even subs have a way :)

When 75% or below - there is some risk involved. My main aim with these is to show where risk/potential DNPs are lurking.

I base these %s on info I read from various sources including comments from the manager and reading a lot of local Japanese news coverage/message boards. Saying that, there will always be unknowns including last minute injury/illness of a player etc.

Always do your own research when making picks. For SO5, it can make sense to take some calculated risks depending on the potential score and the rest of your team/prize pool.

Machida vs YFM

Machida

Top of the table. Another clean sheet win last week.
Oh Se Hun is suspended. Fujio with the u23 team in the olympics
Sugioka has transferred from Shonan. Available to play, most likely eased in from bench.
Manager has said he will only
Sento and Shibato have been changing spots lots recently

YFM

Harry Kewell sacked. Assistant manager in. Major chances to system unlikely however will have his own style
4-1 win against Kashima Antlers last week, much improved performance.
Hatanaka himself said he is fully fit. Depends on YFM medical team if he plays.
Nagato v likely out. Watanabe still recovering from concussion and unclear if can play
Popp is fully fit. Will come back in at some point imo but after the 4-1 win last week, Iikura may well continue. Hard to predict with confidence but Popp suits the YFM style and will be starting keeper at some point soon.
Likely see slight change in midfield to old system which encourages pressing. This favours players like Nishimura
Hoping for some training news before deadline. Will post if anything comes

Kashima vs FC Tokyo

Kashima

Lost 4-1 to YFM last week.
Kento Misao has been signed. Uncertain if fit to start. Is an ex player and leader who can play DCM and CB. Have to see how he is used
Versitile players like Nakama can play multiple spots and has been favoured over Higuchi. Squad has been relatively stable this season, however after 2 defeats in last 3 there is higher chance changes esp up top.
4th in the table.

FC Tokyo

Team unstable, lots of changes in players and formation. Won last week, usually brings some stability.
Araki and Brandon have left for the olympics. Hatano to start in nets.
Matsuki has been allowed to leave the club to finalise his transfer out. Harakawa has spoken about wanting to play second striker role. Anzai the fav imo
Trevisan missed last 3 games. Unclear, not seen in training. Oka doing well as CB

Gamba vs Shonan

Gamba

Impressive 2-0 win over Sagan
Handa away with the olympics team. Matsuda likely to come in as RB
Rest of lineup likely unchanged

Shonan

Huge 5-0 win against Iwata with Lukian getting a hat trick.
Hiraoka. Onose and Abe recent injuries. Tachii missing from last couple of squads.
Likely keep to the same X11 as last week.

Iwata vs Kyoto

Iwata

Heavy loss to Shonan last week. Graca sent off and suspended.
Suzuki will leave to join the olympics after this game.
Have signed CB Hassan and wing Croux. Chance Croux plays this games.
Kawashima went off with a muscle problem a couple of games ago. Limited info, not seen in training. Miura could come in to replace Sugimoto.

Kyoto

Performance and form improving. Just 1 loss in last 7 league games.
Yamazaki has traferred to Cerezo and Ichimi also to a J2 side.
Kawasaki is with the u23 Olympics team. Kaneko and Yonemoto could come in
Striker Rafael Elias also signed and played some mins last week. Ichimi has transferred out so Elias/Hiraga favs to start
Miyamoto returns to setup after missing last game
Asada also confirmed injured out and out

Urawa vs Sapporo

Urawa

In general, having poor season given expectations as title contenders. Drew 0-0 last week
Gustaffson went off last week with head injury. Has been seen in light training. Linssen is out injured.
Ohata has left for the olympics. Hint, Sekine goes there. Could see Watananbe play but hes been doing well in more forward position.
Sato had a fever and missed the last game. Inoue did well and fav to continue - lots of praise from manager.
Nakajima in full training. Manager has said not wanting to rush so could be from bench
Ishihara returns from suspension.

Sapporo

Bottom of table. Just 1 point from 9 games. Improved performance last week
Lots of players returning did fitness. .Aoki and Asano both started last week. Miyazawa and Kondo also in full training.
Komai returns from suspension.
Have signed a few players. At the moment unclear if able to start. After last wks performance I expect similar lineup with Komai coming in for Suzuki or Omori.
Without a clean sheet in 12 games.

Cerezo vs Niigata

Cerezo Osaka

Unbeaten in 9 league games and 6th in the table
Noborizato unused sub last week. Unclear if fit enough to start. Lack of defenders may force Cerezo hand and he starts.
Nishio is away with olympics team. Funaki can move to CB if Noborizato fit to start at LB
Bueno returned from injury to score last game from the bench. Pushing for a start over Uejo.

Niigata

Kojima has missed last 3 games. Back in light training but indication is he has a shoulder injury and not able to play this game.
Defender Fitzgerald returns from suspension. Suzuki went off with hamstring issue and assumed out
Some injured players slowly returning (Takagi, Hasegawa). Miyamoto and Ono have all been getting mins
Lots of rotation risk after back to back defeats and players coming back from injury.

Fukuoka vs Verdy

Fukuoka

Lost back to back game.
Tashiro and Inoue return from suspension.
Wellington went off with a hamstring issue. V likely out.
Douglas Grolli has minor injury. Was in rehab training. A doubt for this game.
Zahedi has said hes struggling with the humidity, may be on bench again.

Tokyo Verdy

Lost narrowly to Machida
Fuki Yamada is suspended.
Morita played some mins from bench last week. Could start here
Lots of uncertainty about the forward setup. Manager is wanting more from Kimura . G. Yamada has done well
Miki hasnt started recently either. May also see a formation changed back to 4 at the back.

Kashiwa vs Kawasaki

Kashiwa

Lost last week to Nagoya
Savio in decent form; deceives in each of his last 4 games.
Without Hosoya and Sekine who are away on int duty.
Inukai remains injured. Noda was missing last week and again a doubt
Kakita signed from antlers. Manager spoke highly of him. Bench start most likely.

Kawasaki

Having poor season, 15th in the table and just 1 win in last 8. Drawn their last 5 games in a row.
Takai is with u23 Olympics side. Jesiel is injured and returned to Brazil. Lack of options mean Ominami and Sasaki likely CB pairing.
Erison started last game. Looked a rusty ST postition has been changing nearly every game.
Ienaga was benched last game. Some fans unhappy with his defensive cover/being at fault for the goals conceeded. The right side of Kawasaki has been targeted by lots of teams.
Sai and Oshima in light training earlier this week.
Miura is back in full training. Offers another option at LB
Lineup has been unstable all season. Could see changes again with personnel and formation.

Kobe vs Nagoya

Kobe

Drew 1-1 with Sapporo last week in a tired performance.
Sakai is out injured. Miyashiro v likely out too with injury.
A few options available at RB including Iino, Kikuchi.
Muto and Osako are finding there form and gelling well again after a relatively poor start for the duo.

Nagoya

Stopped losing streak with a 2-1 win vs Kashiwa.
Soma made a big difference. Scoring and being a threat on the left hand side.
Junker, Ono, Izumi all out injured.
Ha Chang Rae was missing last last game. Limited info, waiting on training notes
Linked to Tokumoto (FC Tokyo) and Kikuchi (Sagan Tosu)

Sagan vs Hiroshima

Sagan

Lost 2-0 to Gamba. Are 4th bottom just 1 point of drop zone.
Lots of transfer rumours surrounding Marcelo and Kawahara. Seems both will stay at Sagan.
Marcelo Ryan has been seen in training, unclear why he was missing last week/his condition
Kikuchi heavily linked to a move to Nagoya.
Kimura has joined the u23 Olympics side. Kim Tae Hyeon most likely to replace
Kiyotake has transferred to Sagan and played some mins last week.

Hiroshima

Beat Fukuoka 1-0 and moved up to 5th.
Araki returned to defense with Shiotani pushing up to DCM
Mitsuta and Sotiriou went off with injuries. Mitsuta seen in training but unclear if fit enough to play. Will depend on how training goes today.
Similarly for Kato, he is scheduled to join full training today after having stiches removed. Manager will decide if he can play after training today.

SO5 Analysis

Best xG - Hiroshima (xG 2.1)

Best Clean sheet odds - Kobe (47%)

Best Stack - Urawa, Kobe, Hiroshima

Urawa play bottom side Sapporo. Sapporo looked improved last week but on the road in humid conditions they arent used too will test them. Urawa havent been firing this season however this game looks decent for a clean sheet for them

Hiroshima got a clean sheet last week and with Araki back in defense, they again have a decent chance away to Sagan. Alot will depend if Ryan plays for Tosu as he is one of the stand out strikers in the league.

New manager at YFM and they have a tough game away to Machida. Will they get a new manager boost? Machida have the most clean sheets in the league (11) and are playing great including recently beating YFM away from home.

Savio, Fernandes, Ito, Shoji,Marcinho, Tanaka in particular have been in great recent form