Two sides who could do well with a win go head to head in the Japanese J1 League as Yokohama F Marinos play host to FC Tokyo at the Nissan Stadium on Wednesday.

This will be the first meeting between the two teams since last September, when Rikizo Matsuhashi’s side fought back from behind to secure a 3-1 victory in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Match preview

Having just crossed the midway point of the 2025 J1 League season, it has been a disappointing campaign for Yokohama F Marinos, who find themselves scrambling for life at the wrong end of the league standings.

Off the back of a ninth-placed finish last term, Hideo Oshima’s men have lost 12 of their 20 league matches so far while picking up three wins and five draws to collect 14 points and sit rock-bottom in the table, six points and three places behind Wednesday’s visitors just above the dotted line.

Yokohama F Marinos head into the midweek clash fresh off the back of a 1-0 defeat against Fagiano Okayama at the Nissan Stadium when Brazilian striker Lucao scored the only goal of the game with a 17th-minute effort.

Since picking up back-to-back victories over Kashima Antlers and Machida Zelvia in May, the Marinos have lost three games on the trot across all competitions, including a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Football League side ReinMeer Aomori in the Emperor’s Cup second round on June 11.

While breaching opposition defences has not been a cause for concern as Yokohama have made the net ripple 18 times in the league alone, they have struggled to impose themselves at the back, where they hold the division’s fifth-worst record with 28 goals conceded so far.

FC Tokyo, on the other hand, were sent crashing back to earth on Sunday as they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Gamba Osaka when the two sides squared off at the Suita City Stadium.

Experienced forward Takashi Usami struck in the 33rd minute to open the scoring and put Gamba Osaka in front and after Marcelo Ryan failed to draw the visitors level from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute, Takeru Kishimoto netted in the third minute of stoppage time to put the game to bed.

Prior to that, FC Tokyo booked their spot in the third round of the Emperor’s Cup on June 18, when they picked up a 3-1 victory over third-tier Zweigen Kanazawa thanks to a first-half brace from Kein Sato and Motoki Nagakura’s 85th-minute effort.

With Sunday’s defeat, Matsuhashi’s men have now failed to taste victory in five consecutive games in the J1 League, picking up just one point from a possible 15, a run which has seen their 13-year spell in the top flight come under threat.

While Tokyo will be looking to find their feet on Wednesday, next up is the challenge of an opposing side who are unbeaten in eight of their last nine meetings, picking up six wins and two draws since October 2020.

Yokohama F Marinos J1 League form:

Yokohama F Marinos form (all competitions):

FC Tokyo J1 League form:

FC Tokyo form (all competitions):

Team News

Yokohama F Marinos will have to cope without several players down the spine of the team as the defensive duo of Reno Noguchi and Kosei Suwama have been sidelined through hamstring and ankle injuries respectively.

Colombian defender Jeison Quinones has been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury against Kawasaki Frontale in April, while Takuto Kimura is expected to make his return in November as he continues his recovery from a cruciate ligament injury.

Veteran forward Ryo Miyaichi has missed each of the last five games since picking up a hamstring injury in the clash versus Vissel Kobe on May 21 and the 32-year-old is also out of contention for the home side.

As for Tokyo, Matsuhashi will be unable to name the duo of Tsuyoshi Ogashiwa and defender Henrique Trevisan, who have been ruled out due to shoulder and calf injuries respectively.

They are joined on the club’s injury table by 34-year-old goalkeeper Seung-gyu Kim, who has been out of action since October through a cruciate ligament problem.

Yokohama F Marinos possible starting lineup:

Ilkura; Kato, Matsubara, Deng, Suzuki; Kida, Yanane; Matheus, Tono, Elber; Lopes

FC Tokyo possible starting lineup:

Hatano; Shirai, Morishige, Kimoto, Muroya; Tawaratsumida, Ko, Hashimoto, Endo; Hashimoto, Ryan

We say: Yokohama F Marinos 2-1 FC Tokyo

Yokohama F Marinos and FC Tokyo find themselves scrambling for points at the wrong end of the table in what has been a turbulent campaign and will be looking to begin their turnaround on Wednesday.

While we expect both sides to go all out at the Nissan Stadium in search of a morale-boosting result, we predict that Oshima’s men will make the most of their home advantage and come away with a close victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Joshua Ojele

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