The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League, a long-run league that determines the top of nation's high school generation teams, resumes on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 August. Matchday 10 at the end of this weekend is the turn-around point of the league composed of a total of 18 matches for each team. The battles from this matchday through the 15th matchday will most likely be affecting the final ranking of each team.

In the East division, there are only six-point difference between leaders Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba) and seventh-placed Yokohama F. Marinos Youth (Kanagawa). The rankings can easily change by a winning or losing streak. In that sense, Ichiritsu Funabashi's strength is stability as they have not lost any match in a row.

The Chiba side won the last Inter-high school championship, implementing a tactic of using their time flexibly with good understanding of when to attack and when to defend. Even with the feat, the players do not bask in the afterglow of the championship. "It's important to stay focused," says coach ASAOKA Ryuzo about their preparation ahead of the Premier League resume.

The East division has more top flights who achieved some positive results this summer besides Ichiritsu Funabashi, including inter-high semi-finalists Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori), the 40th Japan Club Youth Championship (U-18) winner F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo). The teams standing in lower places are also striving to come back.

Defending champions Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) now settle in the eighth place but still remain tenacious as they snatched points from two top teams. Division's rock-bottom Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Chiba) grabbed their first win of the season in Matchday 8 and then won through to the final of the inter-high tournament after beating Aomori Yamada. They failed to win the championship, but it is expected for them to come back to the Premier League contention with high motivation.

In contrast to the East, there two separate groups in the West: one from leaders Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) to fifth-placed Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) and the other from sixth placed Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi) to tenth-placed Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School (Hyogo).

Division-leading Cerezo Osaka have added up points based on their hard-running style and high individual skills as they "have used different starting line-ups in every match," according to coach MURATA Kazuhiro. While their pivotal players were called up to Japan's national teams and U23 teams, Cerezo are successful in rotating their players to maintain the top spot. But "I don't care about the standings," says coach Murata. "Once you start caring (about the standings), your mindset tends to go toward its direction. We will go out with a selfless attitude as usual."

The 2011 and 2012 champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth (Hiroshima) have put pressure on the current EAST leaders. After losing Matchday 5 against Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo), they have kept in form with four wins and one draw (including a postponed match).

The matchday 9 contest against Cerezo Osaka proved the Hiroshima side have an enough ability to take a lead until late in the match. According to coach SAWADA Kentaro, their strength is "aggressive defence to win the ball" with collective efforts of second and third moves even after the first player was beaten. As a result, well-coordinated defence and offence, they have scored at least one goal in all the league matches this season.

Other than top two teams, the past Premier league champions including Kobe and Gamba Osaka are trying to take every opportunity to move up. Especially, Kobe have maintained an unbeaten run with five wins and two draws after losing their first two matches, as coach NODA Satoru says, "We start slow every year." If they grab a win over Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) after a break, the title race gets heated even more.

Premier League EAST Matchday 10

8/27
15:00　Albirex Niigata U-18 vs Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Denka Big Swan Stadium)
16:00　Shimizu S-pulse Youth vs F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Shimizu National Training Centre/J-STEP)
8/28
11:00　Aomori Yamada High School vs Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa vs Kashiwa Reysol (Aomori Yamada High School)
11:00　Kashima Antlers Youth vs Omiya Ardija Youth (Kashima Soccer Stadium)
15:00　Yokohama F・Marinos Youth vs Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Nissan Field Kozukue)

Premier League WEST Matchday 10

8/27
9:00　Oita Trinita U-18 vs Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Oita Sports Park)
17:00　Higashi Fukuoka High School vs Vissel Kobe U-18 (Higashi Fukuoka High School)
17:00　Ozu High School vs Gamba Osaka Youth (Ozu Sports Park Stadium)
8/28
10:00　Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth vs Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Yoshida Soccer Park)
17:00　Nagoya Grampus U18 vs Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School (Toyota Sports Center)

More information