It's been an absolute dream start to life in the top flight for FC Machida Zelvia, who sit top of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League at the halfway mark of the season.

To be champions, though, will require continuing their form into a strong summer, including in their upcoming midweek clash with reigning champions Vissel Kobe.

It will be a gargantuan challenge for Zelvia against the J1 holders on Wednesday at 19:00 JST in a match that will be shown live on JLeague.co and broadcasters around the world.

The reigning champions currently sit in fourth and are coming off a tough loss to Kansai rivals Gamba Osaka in their last match.

Though Zelvia sit top, they are by no means flying, having dropped points in two of their last three contests and allowing their lead atop the table to close to just two points.

That set of circumstances ratchets up the pressure on manager Go Kuroda’s side and it will be up to the boss to guide them through the difficulties of the title race.

Much like his team, though, this is all quite new to Kuroda, who was a high school coaching legend before taking over at Zelvia, where he got the club promoted to J1 for the first time ever in his debut season as a professional manager.

Vissel boss Takayuki Yoshida knows exactly how difficult it is to chart that path for the first time. He won the league as a player, but 2023 was his first full, end-to-end season as a top-flight manager and he was able to lead Vissel to the J1 title.

With the whole league aiming to take him down, he guided the club to heights they had never before reached, just like Kuroda is trying to do now at Zelvia.

Kobe host Machida with six points between the sides and a home win capable of cutting that deficit in half. Will they manage to do it and leap right back into the thick of the title race, or will Zelvia keep on cruising to their dreams of a first championship?

Tune in around the world to catch this heavyweight clash between 2023's champions and 2024's league leaders!