Is this the season that Urawa Reds leap back into the Meiji Yasuda J1 League title race? They certainly think so, and that means picking up points week in, week out, including on Friday at 19:00 JST when they travel to Kashiwa Reysol in a match that will be shown live on JLeague.co and broadcasters around the world.

It’s been eight years since Urawa finished in the top three of J1, which is astounding considering they have won both the AFC Champions League and Emperor’s Cup twice each in that time. Last year they had their best finish since 2016 when they came in fourth place and now they have every intention of taking another step forward.

The Reds are tied with two other teams on 11 points after seven matches, looking up at the top three. They’re coming off an impressive 3-0 win over Sagan Tosu and Thiago Santana, who was signed to provide some scoring punch, found the back of the net for a third time this season.

The improvements Urawa made to the squad in the winter are paying off. Now they just need their defense, which was J1’s best a year ago, to return to form under new manager Per-Mathias Høgmo.

This weekend they'll get to see a steely defense up close when they travel to Kashiwa. Reysol sit ninth in the table after losing just once in their first seven matches and have conceded only six goals. While the attack has been slower to get going, Mao Hosoya and Matheus Sávio are a proven dynamic duo that can punish defenses in transition when they are as disorganized as Urawa's has been this season.

Can Reysol extend their unbeaten streak to four? Or will Urawa take three crucial points to get among the league’s top teams in the battle for the title?

Find out live on Friday Night J.League, live on JLeague.co!