Intro

Surprise winners this past round, FC Ryukyu will look to extract some revenge from the 4-0 drubbing they suffered at the hands of Kitakyushu back on match day three. That win for Kitakyushu ignited an impressive run that brought them to the pinnacle of the table as they jumped 17 spots in a matter of weeks. However, Giravanz couldn’t maintain their grasp on the lead and have slowly tumbled out of the promotion conversation. They will look to get back into that conversation quickly this week with a win over FC Ryukyu.

Match Day 34 Highlights: FC Ryukyu v V-Varen Nagasaki (1-0)

Match Day 34 Highlights: Giravanz Kitakyushu v Tochigi SC (1-0)

Team Previews

FC Ryukyu: FC Ryukyu carry a 3-game home unbeaten streak into this match with an overall record of 5 wins, and 5 losses, in their past 10 games. It seems odd that FC Ryukyu haven’t drawn a match in over 10 weeks and I wouldn’t expect one this round either.

With a full five days rest in between fixtures, I would expect FC Ryukyu to field one of their stronger sides on Saturday. Abe will hopefully lead the line while looking to add to his 13-goal tally. Behind him should be the combination of Kawai, Koya, Koizumi, Uesato and Koki. In defense, it is likely that Tanaka can return to his fulltime role at RB, with Numata on the left. I am not sure of the CB pairing though as Higuchi has rotated Suzuki and Yong Jick for Fukui the past few rounds. And this is definitely a match for Dany Carvajal to return to the lineup.

With only 8 games left in the 2020 season, and not much left to play for other than pride and a 2021 contract, I’d like to see some of the players who couldn’t quite get it going this year, generate some momentum heading into the 2021 offseason. It was nice to see Kawai back on the score sheet this past week as he has yet to really string together strong performances this year. Motegi is another name that needs a boost in confidence as he was one of our marquee signings this past offseason, but has yet to reach his full potential here in Okinawa.

Giravanz Kitakyushu: Kitakyushu’s fall from the top began back on match day 21 with a 3-0 loss at home to Mito Hollyhock. They then went on a 9-game winless streak that dropped them to 4th in the table before finally earning a victory on the road at Zweigen Kanazawa.

I am not quite sure what caused the massive drop off in goals scored for this side as they were averaging around 2 goals scored each game before the Mito loss. But Giravanz has seemed to fix that problem with 9 goals scored in their last 5 games. Just in time too, as they will look to embark on an end of season run to the #2 slot in J2 with a very favorable schedule outside of a tilt with leaders Tokushima Vortis.

Disaro, Takahashi, and Machino lead the attack for Giravanz and they are a formidable front line. Giravanz a very persistent side despite some of the recent set backs that has dropped them out of the promotion race as they can press hard for goals and rarely tire. They bided their time against Tochigi this past week, earned a win, and absolutely hammered Ehime before that. Though their away record has been poor the last 5 rounds, that was mainly due to facing some of the tougher teams in J2.

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. Prevent short counter-attacks. Likelihood 2. Though I’d like to believe FC Ryukyu will control the pace and possession of this game, I also thought the same thing when these two teams faced off earlier this year where Kitakyushu dominated the possession and chances. FC Ryukyu cannot afford to turn the ball over in our own end tomorrow. Unfortunately, Ryukyu are very prone to doing just that. Turnovers will allow Giravanz to strike quickly by stretching our defense which could lead to large goal deficits. Yong Jick is notorious for giving the ball away at inopportune times so limiting his touches tomorrow is key.

2. Slow the pace of the game down to a crawl. Likelihood 3. Giravanz have the ability to light up the scoreboard and they seem to be getting back to their free scoring ways. FC Ryukyu, unlike the first time these two teams played, need to maintain large spells of possession and force Kitakyushu into making some mental mistakes out of frustration. If the game maintains a frenetic pace, then Kitakyushu will hurt them on the break.  If FC Ryukyu can bide their time, blunt the initial Kitakyushu onslaught, and create some chances of their own, they could pull out the win.

Match Day 35 Prediction

FC Ryukyu will need to approach this game much like they did against Nagasaki. Giravanz absolutely shredded our defense the last time out so this could easily turn into a shootout on Saturday. 3-2 to Giravanz.

Match Day 35 in J2

Both (1) Tokushima Vortis, and (2) Avispa Fukuoka, face some stiff tests this week as they face (10) Kyoto Sanga FC and (7) Montedio Yamagata. Perhaps this a chance for (3) V-Varen Nagasaki to make up some ground on the leaders when they travel to face (15) JEF UTD Chiba.

Conclusion

Seeing how Giravanz has the slightest chance at promotion this year, it would be nice to see FC Ryukyu derail another side’s aspirations before closing out their 2020 campaign. But this will be no easy task. In fact, it represents another “no-win situation” for FC Ryukyu. Much like name of the Giravanz Kitakyushu manager, and scenario made famous by the Star Trek films, the Kobayashi Maru for Higuchi and the boys will be a tough one tomorrow.