Cerezo Osaka got a taste of first place last week, and they have every intention of getting back on top of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League when they square off against Yokohama F·Marinos on Saturday at 15:00 JST in a match that will be shown live on JLeague.co and broadcasters around the world.

The Sakura spent a week on top of the table before suffering their first loss of the season to Nagoya Grampus, dropping them to second place, but it was hardly a loss indicative of forthcoming problems.

Cerezo mostly played well at Nagoya, but they were unable to win a couple balls in the air and they fell to Grampus players, who made them pay. While unfortunate, it didn’t expose some fatal flaw in the Sakura side; it did, however, highlight how just a few bad bounces can undo what is ordinarily an exceptionally sturdy rearguard. Such is the intensity and parity of J1, week in and week out.

From an attacking perspective, Cerezo are loaded. Léo Ceará has been among the best players in the league from the start of the campaign and is up to six goals already, which is tied for second in J1. He’s a menace to opposing defenses, with brilliant movement that makes him a terror to track before he gets on the ball and uses his terrific skill to finish.

The Brazilian is well supported by compatriots Capixaba and Lucas Fernandes, while Vitor Bueno is settling into life in the J.League and should only continue to improve.

It will be a tall task for F·Marinos to deal with an attack so varied, especially because Yokohama will be coming off the second leg of their magnificent AFC Champions League semi-final, which was extended by 30 minutes of extra-time and penalties. While it was a terrific evening that saw them advance to the tournament final, it will be a quick turnaround and the Tricolor will have to muster up a new batch of energy against Cerezo.

Balancing league and continental play is nothing new for Yokohama, who have been doing this all season and come into this fixture unbeaten in their last four J1 fixtures. The reliable play up front of Anderson Lopes has been instrumental to that, with 2023's joint Top Scorer scoring in his past two starts - a pair of big YFM wins over Vissel Kobe and Gamba Osaka.

After a slow start to the season, the Tricolor are in seventh place but a mere five points off the top with a match in hand so a title challenge is still very much in the cards. Beating Cerezo in Osaka would be a loud reminder that they will feature in the fight for the top.

Can F·Marinos walk into Osaka and stamp themselves into the title fight? Or will Cerezo take full points to potentially put them back on top of the table?

Find out who wins this heavyweight battle, live across the world.