FC Machida Zelvia have been nothing short of sensational in 2024. Despite playing their very first top flight season, they looked like a title contender from Day 1 and rocketed to the top of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League. They’ve held first place for 20 weeks this season, including every day since mid-May, but their top spot is now under threat.

A red-hot Sanfrecce Hiroshima have won six straight matches and now stand just two points back of Go Kuroda’s side for first place, which puts pole position on the line this weekend when Zelvia square off against Urawa Reds on Saturday at 18:00 JST live on JLeague.co and broadcasters around the world.

Sanfrecce’s push to the top has been aided by a bit of a stumble from Zelvia, who have won just one of their last five matches. Their defense has mostly held firm, with Kuroda continuing to expertly organize Zelvia at the back, but they are scoreless in three of their last four contests and in need of a return to the form that had them soaring for much of the campaign.

Shota Fujio will have to be at the heart of a Zelvia attacking surge. The #NextGenJLEAGUE star leads the team with nine goals and is a consistent threat up front, but he needs more help. That is why Zelvia added Yuki Soma, the Japan National Team winger who returned to Nagoya Grampus from Europe for one game before being acquired by Zelvia to aid their title push.

With Soma in the fold, Fujio should have the help he needs to kickstart the Zelvia attack, much to the chagrin of opposing defenses.

Urawa have the unenviable task of slowing down Fujio and Soma on Saturday and it comes at a time when the Reds are in flux. They dismissed manager Per-Mathias Høgmo this week and welcomed Maciej Skorża back as boss, however Ikeda Nobuyasu will lead the team on an interim basis for the time being.

The return of Skorża will be welcome news in Saitama, where he led the club to the AFC Champions League title and J.League YBC Levain Cup final in 2023, but Nobuyasu will be in charge this weekend as the Reds try to end a five-match unbeaten run.

Will change at the top be enough to lead Urawa to a massive win over the league’s top team? Or will Zelvia pick up three points to protect their place at the summit?

Find out live on JLeague.co when these two go toe-to-toe at the Japan National Stadium!