The 12th week of the Price Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League WEST will be held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 September.

Eighth-placed Higashiyama High School (Kyoto) will meet ninth-placed Toyama Daiichi High School (Toyama). Higashiyama have been away from a win since their opening match. In order to come back in form, they carried out some renovation replacing the backline players in the 10th week just after the league resumed. The key to win will be how they halt Toyama Daiichi’s offence, which has been getting better even in their tough matches.

Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo), hosting League-leading Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi), have been hot with a four-match winning streak going as Yoshikawa Kenta expresses his confidence, “Now we are able to keep running till the end of matches” The opposing Nagoya were shocked with a 0-5 defeat by Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto) in the last match. They do not want to lose two in a row to keep the top spot.

Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) will face Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka). As Hiraoka So said, “if we can get the ball up high and immediately start our attacks, and if we can play like that, we can win,” Gamba defeated Higashiyama with a six-goal rout. With that momentum kept, they contend for the consecutive wins. Higashi Fukuoka, vising the away ground, are willing to accept the attacking showdown. “We just need to score more than the opposition’s goals no matter how many goals they would be,” said Ogasawara Keisuke.

Second-placed Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) will play Kyoto, who have been in the middle of a five-match winning streak. Cerezo failed to extend their winning skid in the last match but have some positive side as Japan’s U-17 national team candidate Kishimoto Takeru scored his first goal after coming back from injury. To put pressure on the leaders in the standings, they try to grab three points. Kyoto’s star Okugawa Masaya is out for the next match as he was called up for Japan Under-19 squad. Kyoto are expecting a spark from their attacking end led by Numa Daiki, who scored a goal in the last match.

[Pick-up Match from WEST Week 12]
Kyoto Tachibana High School vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth

Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto) will take on Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth (Hiroshima). Kyoto Tachibana, who are in their first ever season in the Premier League, have gained only one point so far in this season. The players show their confidence, saying “we can enjoy and play as we want in the attacking end,” but they have marked multiple goals in only one match. Looking at their defence, they conceded at least one goal in all the matches they played. Additional efforts from both offence and defence need to be made in order to grab points. Hiroshima clinched three points over Cerezo in the last match. Head coach Mochizuki Kazuyori expresses his players’ improvement, saying “our passing skill has improved compared to the beginning of the season.” How they fight against each other is worth watching.

■Kyoto Tachibana High School vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth
Date: Sunday 7 September, kick-off at 11am
Venue: Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium Sub-ground
Access: 5 min. walk from “Nishikyogoku Undokoen Mae” of Kyoto City Bus / 10 min. walk from “Nishikyogoku” station of Hankyu Line