Intro
FC Ryukyu enter a brutal stretch of games where they face the number 2, 3, and 6th team in the table over their next 3 games. First up is Avispa Fukuoka. FC Ryukyu have achieved some nice results against Avispa Fukuoka in their history but Avispa, of course, will be looking to rebound from their recent loss to Matsumoto Yamaga FC in order to maintain their automatic promotion spot from the J2.
Match Day 32: Avispa Fukuoka v Matsumoto Yamaga F.C. (0-1)
Match Day 32: FC Ryukyu v Renofa Yamaguchi FC (1-0)
Team Previews
Avispa Fukuoka: There may be some cracks emerging in the Fukuoka side that went undefeated during the months of September and October as Avispa have lost 2 out of their last 3 games. While Fukuoka possess the best record for goals against (23), 1 above Tochigi SC, they have a below average goals scored record (36). They sit just one slot above 17th JEF UTD Chiba, and 22nd Renofa Yamaguchi FC in that category.
It is hard to find fault with a side that has shutout their opponent 16 times this year, good for a 50% mark, but the knock on Fukuoka is definitely their ability to score goals. Their two leading goal scorers, Tono and Delgado, seem very streaky when it comes to finding the back of the net. Meaning, they can go long spells without scoring a goal before stringing together a few games with multiple goals.
As mentioned earlier, Avispa Fukuoka are very stout in defense and are anchored by arguably one of the best goal keepers in the J-League in Serantes. Serantes missed all of October to an injury (I assume) but has returned for their last two games. Salomonsson looks to be Fukuoka’s most creative player with 8 assists, though he only has one goal to his name this year. He is very lethal from the dead ball spot and is someone to watch out for on Wednesday.
Fukuoka went 2-1-2 in their past 5 games. They defeated Chiba and Mito, drew with Zelvia, and lost to Iwata and Matsumoto. In those five games, Avispa had an equal 3 goals scored, 3 goals conceded while registering 3 shutouts. It was difficult to draw any conclusion from the highlights as to what constitutes the Fukuoka game plan other than they look to start fast, grab a lead, before putting up a formidable defense. And they seem very comfortable in doing just that.
FC Ryukyu: Winners of 3 out of their last 5, FC Ryukyu will look to continue their successful trend against Fukuoka on Wednesday. FC Ryukyu rested some key players this past weekend and I hope that is due to necessity rather than injury.
Leading scorer Abe, a major part of the FC Ryukyu offense, will look to increase his goal tally of 13 tomorrow with the help of Koizumi, Koya and Motegi up top. It has been quite some time since we’ve seen the four of them in the lineup at one time and it looks as if Motegi is finally getting over the effects from CV19.
In defense, it is anyone’s guess as to who will be lining up at CB with Chinen likely out for the year, and Yong Jick sent to the bench last week.
What is certain though, is that Dany Carvajal is playing some of his best football to date and looks to be over the lingering ankle injury that cost him much of 2019. If there is one thing I know about sports injuries; it’s that, it takes more time to recover mentally than physically. Trusting your body to do what it did pre-injury is no easy task. It often requires small gains in confidence in order to reach optimal performance. We are finally seeing the Dany of early 2019 and it is great to know we have locked him up on a long term deal through 2022.
FC Ryukyu have the better record of these two sides but that is only counting games the past 2 seasons. Last year, Fukuoka were adrift when FC Ryukyu defeated them for only their second road game victory of 2019 in the late fall. This is a very different situation now as Fukuoka sit atop of the table with FC Ryukyu middling at the bottom.
Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
The Scale: 5- An almost certainty it will occur 4-Fairly-Certain it will happen 3-Somewhat Certain it could happen 2-Very Unlikely that it happens 1- Requires a Miracle for it to happen
1. Withstand the early barrage. Likelihood 2. Over the course of their last 5 matches, Avispa Fukuoka display a penchant of creating chances and scoring goals inside the opening 30 minutes of games. FC Ryukyu must weather that storm by preventing an early goal from Fukuoka if they wish to prevent the inevitable “parking the bus” from Fukuoka.
2. Grab the early lead with a strong lineup selection. Likelihood 1. It should be: Abe, Koya, Ikeda, Motegi, Koizumi, Uesato, Tanaka, Numata, Suzuki, Fukui, and Dany tomorrow. I think FC Ryukyu should amass as much firepower as they can in order to grab an early lead. This should force Fukuoka into more of an attacking role, something they may not be accustomed to executing. How else will we unlock such a stout defense unless we force their hand by pressing for a goal when they are behind?
Match Day 33 Prediction
Neither side has lit up the scoreboard as of late so this sets up as a low scoring game. Since FC Ryukyu’s 3 goal outburst against Omiya Ardija, they have failed to score a goal from open play in the last 2 matches. Fukuoka on the other hand, have only scored 3 goals in the past 6 games.
This could easily end 1-0 in favor of Avispa Fukuoka because they have the defense to keep FC Ryukyu off the scoreboard.
Match Day 33 in J2
A mere 5 points separate the top 3 sides in J2 with current leaders (1) Tokushima Vortis, trying to maintain their grip on the pole position when they host (8) Tochigi SC this round. Meanwhile, (3) V-Varen Nagasaki will be rooting for a (2) Fukuoka slip up against FC Ryukyu, plus a win of their own, when they host (11) Fagiano Okayama.
(4) Albirex Niigata may have the toughest draw this round as they travel to (10) Jubilo Iwata who beat them 3-1 in the previous leg. Niigata can ill afford to drop any points this round as they have a nice stretch of winnable games before clashing with V-Varen Nagasaki at the end of the month. (5) Ventforet Kofu is in a similar situation as Niigata as they will need to earn a win over visiting (12) Mito Hollyhock, who drew with the hosts the last time they played, due to a much tougher slate of games this month for a team that is 10 points outside of promotion.
Conclusion
Avispa Fukuoka has a long history of never being crowned in any national competition here in Japan. Thus, making them the “Kings of Nothing.” So…………………………..
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