EAFF NEWS/COLUMN

Tokyo: The 2023 J1 League campaign is set to kick off on Friday as defending champions Yokohama F. Marinos travel to their biggest rivals in recent years, Kawasaki Frontale.

The Marinos won the 2022 edition after finishing two points ahead of Kawasaki, while between them they have picked up the past six titles dating back to 2017.

As the new season approaches, the pair remain among the favourites, but plenty of other teams will hope to mount a serious challenge to become champions of Japan.

The defending champions

🏆 1995
🏆 2003
🏆 2004
🏆 2019
🏆 2022

🇯🇵 Yokohama F. Marinos are J1 League champions for a 5️⃣th time! 👏 pic.twitter.com/g7dEcvEqfD
— AFC (@theafcdotcom) November 8, 2022

Under Australian tactician Ange Postecoglou, Yokohama F. Marinos won their first title since 2004 in 2019, only to see Kawasaki reassert themselves as the dominant force in the J1 League by being crowned champions in back-to-back seasons in 2020 and 2021. .....

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