Football leagues are extremely unpredictable, and the current standings of the J1 League 2022 prove this correct. Defending champion Kawasaki Frontale is third place behind frontrunner Yokohama F. Marinos and second placer Kashima Antlers. Yokohama leads by one point from Kawasaki and Kashima, which shares 33 points apiece, but Antlers had a better goal difference as of June 22, 2022.
Results-wise, taking chances in the J1’s outright betting market for future league winners gets harder yet exciting for bettors. Given football’s unpredictability, bettors need to research previous matches between squads, team and individual goalscoring, and other relevant data to improve their chances of winning.
Aside from betting for the top teams to win the J1 title, bettors can also try their luck in the relegation market. This betting option allows bettors to wager for teams they believe will be relegated in J2, Japan’s second-tier football competition, next season.
With 21 matches left, these are the teams that bettors must keep their eyes on once they choose to bet in this market:
Vissel Kobe
As of writing, the current SG Pools odds of Vissel Kobe to win J1 is 500, like fellow bottom-dwellers Shonan Bellmare and Shimizu S-Pulse. No one expected that Andres Iniesta and the 2021 edition’s third placer would settle at the bottom of the standings, registering only two wins, five draws, and league-worst 10 losses.
Kobe’s lackluster performance in the offensive and defensive ends led to their collapse in most games. If this trend continues under the new coach Miguel Angel Lotina, it is safe for bettors to bet for them as one of the two relegation-bound teams.
Shonan Bellmare
After surviving relegation for the past two seasons, Shonan Bellmare remains in the same position this 2022. The Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium-based squad is currently second to the last in the team standings with a 4-4-9 win-draw-loss record. Such makes them among the favourites once again to be relegated.
Making it to their sixth straight season seems doubtful as Shonan lost a vital player in midfielder Shintaro Nago. Satoshi Tanaka might be the key player for success, but without help, J2 relegation is imminent.
Shonan’s Singapore Pools odds: 500.00.
Shimizu S-Pulse
Shimizu S-Pulse struggled in finding the back of the net last 2021, with Thiago Santama and Carlinhos Junior only the bright spots in goalscoring. The Shizuoka-based footballers signed Yuta Kamiya this season to add depth to their offence. However, 17 games passed, and the results remained the same. If Hiroaki Hiraoka’s troops fail to convert scoring chances in the coming games, bettors can see them either occupying the 16th spot or going deeper in the standings.
Shimizu’s Singapore Pools odds: 500.00
Other Teams at Risk of Relegation
Apart from the teams mentioned above, bettors can also bet for Gamba Osaka, Jubilo Iwata, Urawa Reds, and Avispa Fukuoka, given their recent showings. The current odds in Singapore Pools for these teams is 300.
Finishing 13th last 2021, Gamba Osaka finds itself in more trouble this season. The Tomohiro Katanosaka-based squad is again unsafe from the relegation zone after recording four wins, five draws, and seven losses. Gamba is also currently on a three-game losing streak, and the only solution to end this skid is to find consistency during critical moments of the game. If inconsistency comes instead, Gamba dropping to J2 is still probable.
Jubilo Iwata won J2 2021 to be promoted to Japan’s top-flight league the following year. Jubilo was among the country’s best clubs, especially from 1997-2003. But their glory days became memories of the past. Their J1 stint so far only produced four wins, six draws, and seven losses, good for 14th place. To make matters worse, Jubilo is the second-worst team goals conceded-wise with 26 after Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo’s 31. Failing to better their weak defence can be detrimental to Jubilo’s bid to stay in J1.
Urawa Reds lost five times but could not close out games they could win and ended up drawing nine matches on top of three wins. Luckily, Urawa had a better goal difference than Jubilo to sustain the 13th position in the standings despite having 18 points each. However, they must win games or join the relegation-bound teams.
Avispa Fukuoka ended the 2021 season in eighth place, but this time, four places lower. Their subpar performance is hurting them badly, and they might continuously slide below without taking the necessary steps.
Conclusion
Predicting the teams with the highest chances of being relegated is nearly as difficult as guessing the champion squad. In 90 minutes, anything can happen in football, considering the different factors affecting the team’s performance, such as injured players and red cards. As the season is halfway through, teams in the upper or mid-table still need to be wary of the squads near relegation as the latter can pull-off upsets crucial to climbing the standings. This only means that the relegation market requires bettors to research before taking their chances in Singapore Pools odds and fixtures or a sportsbook’s odds.
For the best football betting experience, bettors can register at a trusted online casino in Singapore, like CM2Bet.
Sources:
- https://sport.optus.com.au/articles/os38861/j-league-2022-season-first-game-team-guides-predictions-where-to-watch
- https://oddspedia.com/football/japan/j1-league#odds
- https://sport.optus.com.au/j-league/articles/os42152/j-league-news-2022-fixtures-games-vissel-kobe-andres-iniesta-asian-champions-league