Match Preview: J1 Week 4 Jubilo Iwata vs. FC Tokyo

April 4th 2009, 7PM Kickoff at Yamaha Stadium (Iwata City, Shizuoka)
J1 Competition Record: Jubilo Iwata 11 wins, 2 draws, FCT 5 wins

Background

With Japan comfortably in position to return to the World Cup stage, all eyes turn back to the domestic stage as J.League returns to weekly play.  Tokyo’s first game away from the Kanto area comes against Jubilo Iwata, a team in far greater peril than an FCT side struggling to overcome injury and misfires.  While Tokyo claimed its first win of the season in Week 3 against Yamagata, Jubilo has one draw (against Urawa) and two losses to its record.  The former J.League dynasty managed to fight off relegation last year; but a promotion-relegation series-less J.League will not afford them such an opportunity in 2009.

While the competition record certainly looks good for Jubilo, in truth Tokyo has found its footing in recent years.  The two squads met most recently last December in a 5-1 thrashing that pushed Jubilo ever closer to the brink of demotion, with Tokyo sweeping the yearly series overall.

The Matchup

With Hirayama out of the lineup due to injury, the team will likely rely on Akamine and Cabore to get the job done.  Akamine has scored four goals against Jubilo and will be looking to add to that count.  Cabore found his first score of the season in the loss at Kashiwa, but he also had major roles in the goal against Urawa and Otake’s point against Kobe so look for him to remain a major factor.  Speaking of Otake, the young star’s performance in the Kobe match should earn him a starting spot this week.  They’ll have no better chance than against Jubilo; the team’s goalkeeper allowed 6 goals in the season opener against Yamagata and has allowed 11 so far this season.

On defense, Nagatomo and Gonda have drawn lines in the sand this week, claiming that from here on out they’re aiming for zero goals allowed.  Gonda’s clean sheet against Kobe will have boosted his confidence, and Nagatomo had a solid performance for the national team in their 1-0 win against Bahrain.  Mukuhara proved himself against Kobe and could see time as a substitute if Jofuku thinks he’s ready for a league match.

Predictions

After a rough start to the season, the Tokyo everyone was expecting will show up on Saturday night in Iwata City.  Tokyo will score more than one goal and the blue and red machine will begin the march to victory.