wf068: .WE League 2025/26 Week 15

Blogger’s Prediction on Friday, February 13th: After a long break (8 weeks from December 21st to February 13th), the season has resumed. Top-placed Kobe will play against fifth-placed Niigata, second-placed Urawa will play sixth-placed Hiroshima, third-placed Beleza will play fourth-placed Sendai, seventh-placed Omiya will play ninth-placed Osaka, eighth-placed Chiba will play tenth-placed Sagamihara, and 11th-placed Nagano will play last-placed Saitama. There will be three matches each between top-placed and bottom-placed teams. Attention will be focused on who will fill the gaps left by Beleza’s Yuzuki Yamamoto and Osaka’s Uno Shiragaki as they are preparing for overseas transfers.

Overall review: Both first-placed Kobe and second-placed Urawa lost by one goal, narrowing the gap in points with third-placed Beleza. Mid-placed Niigata, Hiroshima, and Omiya won, narrowing the gap in points with fourth-placed Sendai. Lower-placed Sagamihara and Saitama also had happy wins.

Match 1 (2/14): Chiba 2-2 Sagamihara at Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba with attendance of 435:
Chiba: C. Yamaguchi (7’), Y. Ogawa (24’)
Sagamihara: H. Nagashima (10’), C. Sasai (85’)
The numbers of shots were almost even, with each team scoring one goal from a direct free kick. Chinari Sasai’s equalizer was superb.

Match 2 (2/14): Saitama 4-0 Nagano at Kumagaya Sports and Culture Park Athletics Stadium, Kumagaya with attendance of 510:
Saitama: N. Ikuta (13’, 41’), K. Setoguchi (77’), S. Uemura (90+3’)
Nanasa Ikuta scored two goals. Saitama blew away their previous slump with a big win.

Match 3 (2/14): Beleza 2-0 Sendai at Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Tokyo with attendance of 1,268:
Beleza: Y. Aoki (36’), Y. Shiokoshi (63’)
Beleza dominated the game with the number of shots taken, resulting in a well-deserved victory. Yuzuho Shiokoshi scored her 9th goal of the season, putting her second in the scoring rankings. It appears that Hikaru Naomoto who recovered from her injury is responsible for the right-side role of Yuzuki Yamamoto, who left to prepare for an overseas transfer.

Match 4 (2/15): Omiya vs Osaka at NACK5 Stadium Omiya, Saitama with attendance of 4,049:
Omiya: N. Nishio (17’)
It was a highly entertaining match with equal numbers of shots as well as with each goalie’s fine saves.

Match 5 (2/15): Hiroshima 2-1 Urawa at EDION Peace Wing Hiroshima, Hiroshima with attendance of 3,186:
Hiroshima: S. Ri (70’), C. Kamiya (84’)
Urawa: H. Shibata (47’)
Hiroshima came from behind to win by dominating the number of shots.

Match 6 (2/15): Kobe 0-1 Niigata at Noevir Stadium Kobe, Kobe with attendance of 2,130:
Niigata: A. Ezaki (19’)
Kobe dominated the number of shots, but was unable to make up for the goals they conceded in the first half and ended up losing.