Friday night football

Round 6 of the J. League kicks off this weekend with an unusual Friday night clash between Gamba Osaka and Montedio Yamagata.

With the Osakans off to the far-flung reaches of Sumatra to take on Indonesian outfit Sriwijaya in the AFC Champions League next Tuesday, the J. League has allowed Gamba to push forward their home clash with surprise package Montedio to give them time to prepare for their Asian gambit.

Australians will be familiar with the idea of Friday night football - indeed Friday night games are key marketing concepts for both the National Rugby League and Australian Football League. However it's a novel concept in Japan, and with fans struggling to leave their office in time for kick-off, Gamba have slashed ticket prices for club members in an attempt to draw a crowd.

The TV ratings would make for interesting analysis too, and with many Japanese working regular business hours on a Saturday, this could prove an interesting round of fixtures for the J. League. Midweek league games are common enough - particularly in J2 - but it remains to be seen what the response for a Friday night encounter is compared to the more common Wednesday-night variety.

However things pan out, I'll be tuning in on TV for a bit of Friday night action, and what's more I'll be making the trip down to Ecopa Stadium on Sunday afternoon for the latest installment of the Shizuoka derby.

These two sides have already met this season, but with league points on the line, the atmosphere will be ramped up a notch for what is always a feisty affair.

Former Urawa Reds striker Yuichiro Nagai is expected to make his belated debut off the bench for the good guys of Shizuoka football, while Jubilo Iwata are not only struggling at the foot of the table - they're also missing top scorer and serial yellow-card-collector Gilsinho through suspension for this one.

Good news for S-Pulse, but these things often have a way of evening themselves out, and after Jubilo Iwata outplayed Urawa Reds at Ecopa Stadium in a 1-1 draw this season, the team from the blue half of Shizuoka will no doubt keep things interesting in what is shaping up as an intriguing contest.