Yokohama Marinos v Sanfrecce Hiroshima: Betting Preview

The first game of round 3, is to be played next Friday 10 am UK time, between hosts Yokohama Marinos that won their first two games of the ongoing season that just started, and the visitors from Hiroshima that lost both their games in the 2022 J-League season.

The hosts are the reigning champions of the J League, while the visitors finished third in the 2022 season.

So even if the visitors had a poor start, the match will be a duel between the reigning champions and the 3rd place of the next season which shall make this opening game of the weekend a very interesting one.

Valuation of Yokohama Marinos and Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Unlike most top-flight leagues of Europe, the J League is not a league of extremes, as the difference in valuation of all squads is not big.

The most valued club according to Transfer Markt is Urawa Red Diamonds, with a squad worth €20.38m, while the club with the least valuable squad combined is Sagan Tosu with a team worth €10.28m as of today.

The hosts and reigning champions have a squad worth €17.43m according to the latest estimation of the same source, while the visitors are worth €14.68m.

As we know these are just estimated, but considering that the difference between the most expensive side and the least expensive side is just around 100%, this means the teams are perceived as worth similar amounts of money by the market and the footie community.

The league relies heavily on local talent, and although Japan is a very rich country, austerity seems to reign in the J League these days in comparison with billionaire leagues like the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and even Ligue 1.

Betting Preview: Yokohama Marinos v Sanfrecce Hiroshima

The hosts are the favourites to win in the 1×2 market with odds of 1.85. The match draw or X market has average odds of 3.80, while the odds for the victory of the Hiroshima visitors are in the house of 3.9+ on average.

The Asian Handicap market has odds of -0.5 @1.85 as a translation / equivalent odd of the hosts ‘1’ selection, and the +0.5 odds for the visitors are now around 2.06 to balance the market.

The over/under betting lines have stabilized around even with a line of 2.75.

Early games of any season of any country can be hard to predict before the kick-off.

Following the match ‘live’ in the in-running market most certainly represents the safest bet out there, so if the hosts start the game well, dominate the actions and create lots of chances to score, perhaps a bet in the -0.5 or ‘1’ selections could prove to be interesting.

Professional gamblers usually wait for about 6 rounds to observe the action of the new season, as a lot can change between seasons, including newly promoted sides, new signings, and of course, departures to some teams.

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Our team has made a special stats / analytical guide about this game which can help you make more informed bets in the opening game of Round 3 of the 2023 J league. Check out the Marinos v Hiroshima stats preview by our writer Adithya Chauhan.