Machida Zelvia host Kyoto Sanga in the J.League Cup. Machida have been picking up wins regularly across their recent matches, while Kyoto Sanga have found the same run of games much tougher going.
The two sides also have a long history of facing each other, with the results swinging back and forth rather than settling into any one pattern.
Analysis updated .
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Contrasting recent runs
Machida's last 20 matches, spanning J1 League games plus cup and continental fixtures, read 11 wins, 7 draws and just 2 defeats, with 27 scored against 17 conceded. That's a solid overall sample, even allowing for the mix of competitions involved.
Machida Zelvia: 20 completed matches; Kyoto Sanga: 20 completed matches.
Machida Zelvia
- Win
- 55% 11 / 20
- Draw
- 35% 7 / 20
- Loss
- 10% 2 / 20
- Scored
- 27
- Conceded
- 17
- Difference
- +10
Kyoto Sanga
- Win
- 30% 6 / 20
- Draw
- 15% 3 / 20
- Loss
- 55% 11 / 20
- Scored
- 19
- Conceded
- 34
- Difference
- -15
| League | Home | Away | Date | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor Cup | Machida Zelvia | Tochigi City | 23.09.2026 | 2-1 |
| AFC Champions League Two | Machida Zelvia | Svay Rieng | 17.09.2026 | 2-0 |
| Emperor Cup | Machida Zelvia | Grulla Morioka | 26.08.2026 | 3-0 |
| Friendlies Clubs | Machida Zelvia | Fujieda MYFC | 18.07.2026 | 2-1 |
| J1 League | Machida Zelvia | Nagoya Grampus | 06.06.2026 | 2-1 |
| J1 League | Nagoya Grampus | Machida Zelvia | 30.05.2026 | 2-2 |
| J1 League | Machida Zelvia | Urawa | 22.05.2026 | 1-0 |
| J1 League | Kawasaki Frontale | Machida Zelvia | 17.05.2026 | 1-1 |
| J1 League | Machida Zelvia | Tokyo Verdy | 13.05.2026 | 0-0 |
| J1 League | JEF United Chiba | Machida Zelvia | 10.05.2026 | 0-2 |
| League | Home | Away | Date | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor Cup | Kyoto Sanga | Fujieda MYFC | 23.09.2026 | 1-0 |
| AFC Champions League Elite | Daejeon Citizen | Kyoto Sanga | 15.09.2026 | 1-0 |
| Emperor Cup | Kyoto Sanga | Maruyasu Okazaki | 26.08.2026 | 1-0 |
| Friendlies Clubs | Kyoto Sanga | Shonan Bellmare | 17.07.2026 | 1-4 |
| J1 League | Kashiwa Reysol | Kyoto Sanga | 06.06.2026 | 0-1 |
| J1 League | Kyoto Sanga | Kashiwa Reysol | 30.05.2026 | 2-6 |
| J1 League | Kyoto Sanga | V-varen Nagasaki | 23.05.2026 | 1-0 |
| J1 League | Kyoto Sanga | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 17.05.2026 | 0-4 |
| J1 League | Vissel Kobe | Kyoto Sanga | 13.05.2026 | 1-0 |
| J1 League | Nagoya Grampus | Kyoto Sanga | 10.05.2026 | 3-0 |
Kyoto Sanga's equivalent run looks very different: 6 wins, 3 draws and 11 losses from 20 matches, shipping 34 goals while scoring only 19. Some of those results include heavy defeats in J1 League play, so the away side arrive with plenty to prove.
Machida's underlying form looks considerably stronger than Kyoto Sanga's across the same period.
Comparative Team Statistics: Machida Zelvia vs Kyoto Sanga
A fixture with a long back story
These two have met 19 times going back over a decade, spread across J2 League, J1 League and cup competitions. The most recent meeting last September finished 1-1, and before that Machida edged an Emperor Cup tie 1-0.
| League | Home | Away | Date | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J1 League | Kyoto Sanga | Machida Zelvia | 23.09.2025 | 1-1 |
| Emperor Cup | Machida Zelvia | Kyoto Sanga | 06.08.2025 | 1-0 |
| J1 League | Machida Zelvia | Kyoto Sanga | 07.05.2025 | 1-2 |
| J1 League | Machida Zelvia | Kyoto Sanga | 30.11.2024 | 1-0 |
| J1 League | Kyoto Sanga | Machida Zelvia | 06.05.2024 | 0-3 |
| J2 League | Kyoto Sanga | Machida Zelvia | 09.08.2021 | 2-1 |
| J2 League | Machida Zelvia | Kyoto Sanga | 11.04.2021 | 0-1 |
| J2 League | Machida Zelvia | Kyoto Sanga | 14.10.2020 | 3-0 |
| J2 League | Kyoto Sanga | Machida Zelvia | 02.08.2020 | 1-0 |
| J2 League | Kyoto Sanga | Machida Zelvia | 14.09.2019 | 2-0 |
Go back a little further and Kyoto won away 1-2 in J1 League play, then lost 1-0 at Machida the following season, before winning 3-0 away the year before that. There's no clear pattern of one side dominating lately, just a fairly even spread of results.
Kyoto Sanga's group position
The only table we have covers Kyoto Sanga, showing them third with 9 points from 6 matches: 3 wins, 3 losses, 9 goals for and 11 against. It's a modest return, roughly balanced between good and bad days.
| № | Team | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | GF/GA | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group E | |||||||
| 1 | Gamba Osaka | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8/4 | 10 |
| 2 | FC Tokyo | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9/5 | 10 |
| 3 | Kyoto Sanga | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9/11 | 9 |
| 4 | Cerezo Osaka | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2/8 | 5 |
We don't have Machida's equivalent placing, so it's hard to compare group standings directly, but this gives some sense of how competitive Kyoto Sanga have been in this type of format recently.
A couple of cards to watch
Two Kyoto Sanga players have picked up cards in small sample sizes: K. Nagata has a yellow in 3 matches, while Marco Túlio has been sent off once in just 2 appearances. That's not proof of anything beyond a recent disciplinary note, and it doesn't tell us who's actually available for this game.
x 1 
x 1Squad lists and player details
Squad and player details
| Name | Country | Age | Position | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T. Nishimura | Japan | 29 | Forward | 178 | 73 |
| G. Shōji | Japan | 33 | Defender | 182 | 76 |
| Na Sang-Ho | Korea Republic | 30 | Attacker | 173 | 70 |
| Erik | Brazil | 32 | Attacker | 170 | 68 |
| Y. Soma | Japan | 29 | Forward | 166 | 68 |
| H. Shimoda | Japan | 34 | Midfielder | 171 | 66 |
| Kim Min-Tae | Korea Republic | 32 | Defender | 187 | 84 |
| R. Shirasaki | Japan | 33 | Midfielder | 181 | 70 |
| T. Morita | Japan | 36 | Goalkeeper | 191 | 87 |
| T. Imai | Japan | 35 | Defender | 178 | 78 |
| A. Masuyama | Japan | 29 | Midfielder | 173 | 72 |
| K. Tani | Japan | 25 | Goalkeeper | 190 | 87 |
| H. Mae | Japan | 31 | Midfielder | 173 | 70 |
| K. Sento | Japan | 31 | Attacker | 171 | 64 |
| Y. Nakayama | Japan | 29 | Midfielder | 181 | 76 |
| I. Drešević | Kosovo | 29 | Defender | 186 | 81 |
| D. Okamura | Japan | 29 | Defender | 183 | 85 |
| S. Fujio | Japan | 25 | Attacker | 184 | 79 |
| N. Lavi | Israel | 30 | Midfielder | 177 | 76 |
| H. Nakamura | Japan | 29 | Midfielder | 177 | 72 |
| Name | Country | Age | Position | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barreto | Brazil | 30 | Midfielder | 181 | 78 |
| Henrique Trevisan | Brazil | 29 | Defender | 185 | 78 |
| Rafael Elias | Brazil | 27 | Attacker | 177 | 83 |
| M. Okugawa | Japan | 30 | Midfielder | 177 | 68 |
| T. Yonemoto | Japan | 35 | Midfielder | 177 | 71 |
| Y. Suzuki | Japan | 34 | Defender | 184 | 72 |
| T. Hirato | Japan | 29 | Midfielder | 177 | 64 |
| T. Matsuda | Japan | 31 | Midfielder | 164 | 63 |
| M. Saito | Japan | 27 | Midfielder | 166 | 66 |
| K. Kakoi | Japan | 35 | Goalkeeper | 190 | 87 |
| S. Nagasawa | Japan | 38 | Attacker | 192 | 82 |
| F. Honda | Japan | 25 | Midfielder | 170 cm | 64 kg |
| M. Murakami | Japan | 34 | Goalkeeper | 185 | 85 |
| T. Shichi | Japan | 32 | Defender | 177 | 70 |
| S. Fukuoka | Japan | 26 | Midfielder | 170 | 67 |
| Marco Túlio | Brazil | 28 | Attacker | 177 | 75 |
| S. Asada | Japan | 28 | Defender | 186 | 80 |
| G. Ota | Japan | 35 | Goalkeeper | 190 | 86 |
| Halls | Brazil | 27 | Goalkeeper | n/a | n/a |
| S. Fukuda | Japan | 26 | Defender | 174 | 68 |
Machida look the stronger side on recent form, and Kyoto Sanga's away record has been rough. But the head-to-head history keeps producing close, unpredictable results between these two, and there's no market here to weigh that against.
Without a quoted line to assess, this is one to watch rather than back. The contrast in form is real, but it isn't a substitute for a price worth having an opinion on.
Who will win?
