Yokohama F·Marinos had a thrilling start to their season last week, scoring twice in the dying minutes to come back for a 2-1 win over Tokyo Verdy at the Japan National Stadium. Now they’re hoping to ride that momentum into Friday’s clash with Avispa Fukuoka at 19:00 JST, and you can watch the match live on JLeague.co.

The comeback in Tokyo was big for the Tricolor, who are undergoing a big change with Harry Kewell taking over as manager. He’s brought a new approach to Yokohama, but the goals at the club are still the same: Compete for every trophy. With that in mind, growing under their new boss while still picking up valuable results in all competitions is a big challenge.

So far, Marinos are getting it done. They defeated Bangkok United in the AFC Champions League Round of 16 to kick off their 2024 campaign, advancing to the final eight of the continental championship for the first time in club history. Then, they beat Verdy to start their Meiji Yasuda J1 League season.

Kewell’s boys are getting the results they need. Now they have to keep it up against Avispa.

Expectations are high in Fukuoka, where they are coming off the best J1 finish in club history and won their first-ever major trophy, taking home the J.League YBC Levain Cup. After such a great 2023, Avispa are not short on confidence.

The Wasps picked up a result in their opening match of the campaign, drawing Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, 0-0. It wasn’t their best performance, but their defense shut down the always-dangerous Consadole attack and earned a point.

Will Avispa be able to take down Marinos? Or will the Tricolor continue their hot starts to 2024 and make yet another statement that they expect to be in the fight for every trophy on offer this season?

Find out on Friday, live on JLeague.co!