Aiming to bounce back from a recent defeat and narrow the gap to the top three in the J1 League table, FC Tokyo will travel to the Kashiwa Hitachi Stadium to take on Kashiwa Reysol on Saturday.
The visitors dropped to eighth spot after seeing an unbeaten streak come to an end on Sunday, while their hosts sit 13th after making an important return to winning ways at the weekend.
Match preview
Kashiwa Reysol return to action at the weekend aiming to make it back-to-back victories in the J1 League and climb up the table after ending a rut last Sunday.
Following a tough campaign last year, in which they finished four points clear of the drop, Kashiwa Reysol enjoyed an improved start to the 2024 term, only for four consecutive defeats between late May and late June to leave them on just 22 points from 19 outings.
The Sun King did then end that streak in a trip to Kyoto Sanga, earning a share of the spoils from a 2-2 draw thanks to Matheus Savio's leveller deep into injury time, before most recently setting out to put a sixth three-point haul of the campaign on the board in a trip to Sagan Tosu on Sunday.
Masami Ihara's side succeeded in impressive fashion, dishing out a 4-1 beating despite trailing until the hour mark, as Savio turned the game on its head with a brace before Kosuke Kinoshita wrapped up the victory with a double of his own in the last 20 minutes.
Thanks to that triumph, Kashiwa Reysol now find themselves back in 13th spot in the J1 League after 21 fixtures, only trailing Yokohama F Marinos on goal difference and Nagoya Grampus by a single point, and they will bid to continue their climb with a second straight three-point haul on Saturday.
That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors arrive aiming to make a quick return to winning ways with the chance to move back into the top five after a setback last time out.
Aiming to improve on last season's 11th-placed finish in the J1 League, FC Tokyo again endured a disappointing first half to the new campaign, as a four-match winless run in May left them on 23 points from 16 outings.
Peter Cklamovski's would go on to produce an impressive upturn in form, though, adding 10 more points to that tally in the following four attempts to move into the top six, despite only scoring four goals along the way, as they picked up 1-0 triumphs over Sagan Tosu, Shonan Bellmare and Cosadole Sapporo alongside a 1-1 draw with Jubilo Iwata, having produced decisive goals in the final 15 minutes in the draw and the latter two victories.
The capital outfit then set out to continue their climb with a third straight three-point haul to make it five games unbeaten on Sunday, but they failed to do so when Avispa Fukuoka visited the Ajinomoto Stadium, finding themselves on the wrong end of a one-goal game as Masato Shigemi fired the visitors to a victory in the second half to see them move above Cklamovski's men.
With their improved streak halted, FC Tokyo quickly dropped back to eighth spot at the weekend, but with just a two-point gap up to fifth-placed Cerezo Osaka and a five-point gap up to second and third spots, they can quickly move firmly back into the mix with the leading pack if they are able to make a swift return to winning ways on Saturday.
Team News
Kashiwa Reysol could come into Saturday's game with an unchanged starting XI from Sunday's 4-1 beating of Sagan Tosu, with defender Tomoya Inukai remaining sidelined by an injury.
In his absence, Hiroki Noda and Taiyo Koga will continue to partner up in the middle of the defence in their 4-4-2 setup, while Sachiro Toshima and Tomoki Takamine should keep their places in midfield despite competition from Takuya Shimamura and Eiji Shirai.
Top scorer Kosuke Kinoshita, who has netted eight goals so far this term, will fight to come back in up top, after Tomoya Koyamatsu and Mao Hosoya were preferred for Sunday's trip, while Matheus Savio will line up on the left wing with confidence having taken his tally to six for the season with three goals in the last two games.
FC Tokyo should again line up in a 4-3-3 shape on Saturday, with regular midfielder Takahiro Ko fighting to return from the outset after Kuryu Matsuki and Riki Harakawa were preferred alongside Kei Koizumi in the engine room against Avispa Fukuoka last time out.
Ryotaro Araki will also fight to come back in from the start at the weekend after also coming off the bench last weekend, having netted a team-high tally of six goals so far this term, as will Union Berlin loanee Keita Endo.
They could operate in support of front man Diego Oliveira, who has managed five goals this season, while at the other end of the pitch Teppei Oka should again join 37-year-old Masato Morishige at the heart of a back four.
Kashiwa Reysol possible starting lineup:
Matsumoto; Sekine, Noda, Koga, Jara; Yamada, Takamine, Toshima, Savio; Kinoshita, Hosoya
FC Tokyo possible starting lineup:
Nozawa; Nakamura, Oka, Morishige, Nagatomo; Matsuki, Koizumi, Ko; Araki, Oliveira, Endo
We say: Kashiwa Reysol 1-1 FC Tokyo
While FC Tokyo have enjoyed the stronger campaign thus far, momentum may have slightly shifted between these two teams after last weekend's results, and with renewed confidence from a resounding return to winning ways, we back Kashiwa Reysol to take a share of the spoils on home turf.
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