Prince Takamado Trophy All Japan Youth (U-18) Premier League is resuming again on 22 November.

EAST

In fact, in their previous 15 matches, Kashiwa Reysol U-18 rarely conceded more than one goal and they are regarded as the most stable team. They want to win the Premier League East before playing against Shimizu S-pulse Youth, one of the other top teams in the last Section. “What we aim is to get the victory at the first year in this Premier League” says SHIMOTAIRA Takahiro, Coach of the team.

On the other hand, Shimizu S-pulse Youth which is in the 2nd position of the League could not win for the last 3 matches and the points difference between Kashiwa Reysol U-18 are now getting bigger. In the 15th Section, the team drew with Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Chiba) and HIRAOKA Hiroaki, the coach of the Shimizu S-pulse Youth did not hide his disappointment saying “we should have won the match today”. From this match, KITAGAWA Koya came back from the absence due to injury. They are expected to show their real power which has been encouraged in Shizuoka, where football is very popular.

The competition is strong between the teams in and around the relegation zone. There are currently 6 teams, which is from Ichiritsu Funabashi High School in 4th position to Mitsubishi Yowa SC Youth in 9th, in danger of relegation with just 7 points separating them. Mitsubishi Yowa SC Youth will play against the other teams which are also working very hard to stay in the league such as Consadole Sapporo U-18 (Hokkaido) and JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka). Such matches are expected to be very interesting. Who will laugh at last by avoiding relegation?

EAST Standings 

*As of the 15th Section

WEST

There are several teams vying to win the league this season unlike in the EAST. Gamba Osaka Youth(Osaka) has won 5 consecutive matches and is currently top of the league. Even though they have had only 2 clean sheets in their last 15 matches, they could keep winning with goals from TAKAGI Akito, who is the current joint top goal scorer in the league, and SENO Naoya, who is the seventh top goal scorer.

In the rest of 3 remaining matches, the match against Nagoya Grampus U18 at the 17th Section is the only match with a team that is also in the higher ranking. If they can beat Nagoya Grampus U18 and win the remaining 2 matches after that, they can guarantee winning the league. However, there are rivals who work very hard. Vissel Kobe U-18, in the 2nd position, has been in the positive mood by winning 8 consecutive games and are within 2 points of Gamba Osaka Youth. The team’s balance has been special by good defense players, who haven’t allowed multiple goals scored against them since the 8th Section, as well as YONEZAWA Rei who is also the joint top goal scorer. They are poised to win the WEST League again for the second year running.

The two teams who also have the possibility to win the league will play each other: Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) which has only 3 points less than the top team, and Nagoya Grampus U18 which has 6 points separating it and the top team. For Cerezo Osaka, the match against Vissel Kobe U-18 at the 17th Section is also important: if they could exact revenge on Vissel Kobe who beat them 1-3 in the last match, they can put pressure on Gamba Osaka. Nagoya Grampus also can see the possibility of victory if they can correct their defense. They have conceded 16 goals in their previous 5 matches.

Looking at relegation zone, Toyama Daiichi High School (Toyama), Higashiyama High School (Kyoto), and Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto) are in danger of dropping out of this league. The lowest team Kyoto Tachibana High School wants to get points by winning the match against Toyama Daiichi High School at the 17th Section.

WEST Standings

 *As of the 15th Section