Sam Robson returns to the pod for a full review of J1 Matchday 4, while there's also a full debut from Alex Bishop, who joins us at the start of the episode to chat about new table toppers FC Tokyo.

Alex and Sam discuss Tokyo's home win over Nagoya that saw them leapfrog Grampus to the summit, the capital club's progression in their second season under Kenta Hasegawa, and whether that will be sustainable in the long term (to 17:03).

Then after we bid Alex farewell, Sam and I run the rule over the other results, beginning with Oita's meteoric rise to third following their excellent home win over Yokohama, and working our way down the table before finishing with the matchday's only draw, between Kobe and Shimizu (to 56:55). We finish off the episode with a chat about Hajime Moriyasu's experimental Japan squad, ahead of the friendlies against Colombia and Bolivia.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

Alex - @abishop32