There are other strikers to watch besides Teruhito Nakagawa and Diego Oliveira.

Douglas, who joined Vissel Kobe from Shimizu S-Pulse, is one of them. He scored 21 goals in 2015 to help Sanfrecce Hiroshima win the league, and after playing in UAE and Turkey, he joined Shimizu S-Pulse in the summer of 2018. The Brazilian striker scored 11 goals in 15 appearances that season, and helped his team avoid relegation by scoring 14 goals last year.

Despite his relatively small size, he has great skills and shows his strength in diverse situations. His powerful left-foot shots and headers earned him a total of 46 J1 goals so far.

This year he also has excellent support from his teammates. Andres Iniesta in partucilar is a great help for any striker, and in fact Douglas already scored a goal against Yokohama F.Marinos in the FUJI XEROX SUPER CUP, thanks to the Spanish midfielder. If Douglas and Iniesta can build a good partnership it would mean a lot of scoring opportunities.

Sapporo’s Musashi Suzuki is another player to watch. He has been attracting attention from a young age, but did not fulfill the promises during his days at Albirex Niigata. Finally, in 2018, he netted 11 goals at V-Varen Nagasaki followed by 13 goals in the past season at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. His performance was also rewarded with a call up to the Japanese national team.

His strength is speed. He beats the defensive line with his explosive sprint before finishing with accurate shots. He already had a good start of the season, scoring a goal in the season opener at Kashiwa Reysol. The 26-year-old is still developing, and it won’t be a surprise if he ends up winning the title of top scorer.