The 2022 Nippon Professional League season kicks off this Friday night (February 18th)! Last year's champions Kawasaki Frontale will host FC Tokyo in the opening match of the Tamagawa Clash (live on Cable TV 601/661 at 6pm on Friday). This year's Nippon Professional League has seen a number of traditional conferences increase their forces to varying degrees, and it's definitely worth keeping an eye out for the new season's champions.
In 2022, the JLF will follow the double round robin rule of last season, and the total score of the two rounds will be used to determine who will be the champion and the AFC Champions League seat. In terms of relegation, in the 2020 season, relegation was withdrawn due to the new crown epidemic, but last season, it was adopted as a guideline for relegation of four teams to two, so the number of teams was reduced from 20 to 18, and this season's promotions are Iwata Yamaha and Kyoto Budokoro.
Kawasaki Frontale, who have won four championships in the last five seasons and are striving for a third consecutive title, are certainly one of the favorites to win this year's championship. Kawasaki Strikers are led by Onigi Tatsu, but the team has been weakened by the return of Tanaka Bea, Mitaka Kaoru, and Reio Hatate since the middle of the last season, so they signed Thailand's number one player, Chainadip Sangsing (Chainat), from Sapporo Gonzaga, Hokkaido, to fill in the gaps in their squad during the off-season. However, Kawasaki Striker lost to Urawa Red Diamonds in last week's Japan Super Cup, which is not a good performance. Let's see if Chainatty, together with Lee Ando Damio, Kobayashi Yoru, Parent Akihiro, and Oshima Yuta can create a spark to get a good start in the opening match against FC Tokyo in the Tamagawa Tournament.
As for Urawa Red Diamonds, the newly crowned Japan Super Cup champions, they will face promotion rivals Kyoto Immortals in the first round. Urawa Red Diamonds won the Emperor Cup last season after a big turnover. During the off-season, the Red Diamonds continued to clean out their veterans and added Ren Ezaka, who joined the team from Berrezel in the last season, and the No.10 even scored twice in the Super Cup. The host team Kyoto Immortals to J2 runner-up status, after 12 years to return to the cutting edge of the league, had been playing in the Japanese League for many years, the last team's top scorer Peter Udaka has been the biggest star in the lineup, and the list of reinforcements only had traveled to Europe Omae Motoki more strength, the new season such as the struggle in the protection of the circle is not surprising.
As for the other promoted team, last year's J2 champion Iwata Yamaiba, their reinforcements are even more progressive. During the off-season, former Japan national team midfielder Hirohito Endo, who played on loan last season, was officially signed, while Urawa Red Diamonds loaned ex-Japan national team center forward Kenyong Sugimoto, and two Brazilian newcomers, Dudu Patterico and Ricardo Galega, have joined the team. Iwata Yamaiba's first match will be against Fukuoka Hornets, who were relegated last season, and it will be a litmus test for the team's talent.
Yokohama Marinos, the second-ranked team in the J-League, will face Sakura Osaka in their first match of the new season. The Yokohama Mariners have lost a lot of key players during the off-season, including Da Ran Maeda, Takahiro Ogihara, and Tiago Martins Bono, but the team has managed to pry the Brazilian midfielder Carruthers Idualdo, who was outstanding in Tosu Sands, to join them, and there are also some other players who have been outstanding in Gonzaga Hokkaido, who was outstanding in Gonzo Hokkaido, and were outstanding in Gonzo Hokkaido in the previous season.
China Super League (soccer league)
FC Wuhan's Andersen Lubis has come to join the team, so their strength will not be greatly reduced. With Teruto Nakagawa, Rioschalla, Magos Zulia and other original starters, I believe that the team that scored the most goals last year will still have the power to attack the championship.
Kobe Successful Ferry, who will visit Nagoya Whale in the first week of the tournament, has been quiet during the off-season in terms of reinforcements. As the third-place finisher last year, Kobe Successful Ferry has signed three experienced players, Makino Tomono, Yasuya Tyagi and Takahiro Ogihara, but the team already has first-class players such as Ennis Tatsu, Muto Kakichi, Isao Osako, Paozan, Yamaguchi Ying and Sakai Takatora in the squad, so they are still confident that they will be the champions of the J-League this season. As for the last Japan League Cup champion Nagoya Whale, this season will be Hasegawa Kenta as the supervisor, I believe that this year's style of play will be more progressive, a change from the last season's preservation of the style of play; the team, although the last year's main player Maeda Naoki, Gabi Shavia returned to the team, but there are still Kakitani Yao ichirou, Inagaki Shoukou, Saito Gaku, Abe Hiroyuki, etc., the first line of the Japan League in the squad, the coming season still can not be ignored.
Kashima Antlers, who lost the AFC Champions League last season, have changed their tradition of using local or Brazilian supervisors this season, and have hired a Swiss coach named Werner. Werner has coached European clubs such as Nuremberg and Anderlecht before, but he has no experience in Asia, so let's see how he will do in the new season. Kashima Antlers has a new star, Hiroki Machida, returning to the team this season, but there is also a scorer, Yuma Suzuki, returning to the team, together with last season's newcomer, No.10 Ryotaro Araki, the midfielder, the strength of the team is still complete.
As for Kashima Antlers' first round opponent, it will be the fading powerhouse Osaka Flyers. Flying Foot, who won the second place in the previous season but was once in the relegation whirlpool last season, will be supervised by Chihiro Katanozaka in the new season, which is expected to have a new scene. Although Kim Young-gwon and Ideguchi Yosuke have returned to the team, but also added the South Korean footballer Kwon Kyung-won, together with the original Kurata Aki, Shoji Gen, Dongguchi Shunsho and other internationals, seems to be strong enough to join the ranks of the competition.
From the above news, it can be seen that a number of strong teams are already gearing up for the new season of the JLF, and it is expected that the competition will still be fierce, so JLF fans should remember to keep a close eye on it.
This week's JLF live streaming schedule:
February 18, 6:00pm Kawasaki Striker vs FC Tokyo Cable TV 601/661
February 19, 1:00 PM Yokohama Mariners vs. Osaka Sakura Cable TV 601/661
February 19, 1:00 p.m. Kyoto Immortals vs. Urawa Red Diamonds Cable 604/664
February 19, 2:00 PM Nagoya Whale vs. Kobe Success Ship Cable 602/662
