J League Match Preview: Top of the Table Clash Between FC Tokyo and Oita Trinita

Kenta Hasegawa's FC Tokyo take on Oita Trinita at Ajista this Saturday. They will be looking to bounce back from last Saturday`s narrow defeat to Cerezo Osaka. Tokyo will look to brush off their first loss this season as a minor speed bump, and immediately return to winning ways.

A win for FC Tokyo will ensure they go into the international break with at least a four-point lead at the top of the table.

The starting eleven is likely to be unchanged from last weekend, with the Oliveira/Nagai partnership to be the key source of goals. After a solid performance against Cerezo, promising young centre-back Tsuyoshi Watanabe is set to keep his starting place. He fills in for Jiang Hyun Soo, who has one game left on his suspension.

Despite getting promoted from J2 just last season, the visitors are also capable of causing an upset. They currently sit in fourth place and have so far earned wins against Kashima Antlers, Yokohama F Marinos and Consadole Sapporo.

Joint top-scorer Noriaki Fujimoto will also be looking to add to his goal tally of seven.

For Tokyo, a good approach may be to stick to their robust counter-attacking set up and allow Oita to open up and come forward. With some of the league's strongest attacking players, the capital city side should be able to exploit the opponent's defence, which has conceded in all but two league games this season.

Both sides suffered losses last weekend and will be hoping this does not descend into a losing streak. This match is a test of how Tokyo mentally respond to losing their undefeated streak.

Oita will also be aiming to return to winning ways and maintain a high flying league rank.

Key feature

There is rumour that this match could be the last time we see Takefusa Kubo in a Tokyo shirt. With the Copa America kicking off for Japan on June 17th, and the young prodigy rumoured to be snapped up by a European elite club as soon as the summer transfer window opens, this is practically the last game he could be able to make an appearance in.