FC Tokyo Go Top with Four Wins and Five Clean Sheets; Tokyo Verdy Claim First Win Under New Manager [Monthly Report (October): MEIJI YASUDA J1]

Matchweeks 9 to 13 of the MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE were played in October and on 1 November, with FC Tokyo climbing to the top of the table.
 
Unbeaten since Matchweek 2, FC Tokyo stepped up their impressive form in October. Apart from a goalless draw against Kashiwa in Matchweek 11, they won all four matches by margins of at least three goals. They also kept a clean sheet in all five matches, scoring 17 goals without conceding.
 
Teruhito Nakagawa was among their standout performers, scoring twice against Mito in Matchweek 12 before adding another two goals against Okayama. The return to form of the striker, who was named MVP in 2019, has added further momentum to FC Tokyo's charge. Dani Gomes, who joined after the season began, has also shown his quality. With their strength at both ends of the pitch, FC Tokyo look set to continue setting the pace in November and beyond.
 
Hiroshima also enjoyed four victories, climbing from third at the end of September to second. Machida remained unbeaten with three wins and two draws, keeping five consecutive clean sheets to move up to third.
 
Kashiwa defeated fellow frontrunners Kobe and Kashima, but their Matchweek 10 loss to Nagoya saw them slip from second to fourth. Kobe, who had ended September top of the table, suffered defeats to Kashiwa and Kawasaki Frontale and dropped to fifth.
 
Kashima bounced back from a difficult September with three wins, climbing to sixth. Yokohama F. Marinos also went unbeaten but drew four of their five matches, slipping from sixth to eighth. Nagoya, meanwhile, rose from 17th to 11th, helped by Yuya Yamagishi's return to form. Cerezo Osaka and Shimizu, by contrast, struggled to pick up points throughout the month.
 
Tokyo Verdy, who had gone without a win since the start of the season, made a managerial change in an attempt to turn their fortunes around. Under new manager Naoki Soma, they claimed their first victory of the campaign against Fukuoka in Matchweek 12 before beating Nagasaki to secure back-to-back wins and climb out of the relegation zone.
 
Chiba also showed signs of improvement, claiming a convincing victory over Fukuoka in Matchweek 13 to move off the bottom of the table. Mito and Fukuoka, meanwhile, found themselves in increasingly difficult situations.
 
Mito's losing streak, which had begun in September, stretched to six matches, prompting a managerial change after Matchweek 12. They also lost to Hiroshima in Matchweek 13 under new manager Naoki Mori, finishing the month with five defeats from five matches.
 
Fukuoka beat Okayama in Matchweek 9 but then suffered four consecutive defeats. Losses to fellow strugglers Tokyo Verdy and Chiba saw them drop to the bottom of the table. On 3 November, the club announced the dismissal of manager Shinya Tsukahara, with interim manager Yusuke Murakami set to take charge from their next match as they look to turn their fortunes around.