Imabari FC vs Jef United Ichihara Chiba Best odds and tips

Jef United Ichihara Chiba have been the outstanding team in the J2 League 2025 with 32 points from 14 matches, but they have slipped a little of late and will need to improve their away form if they are to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Jef United Ichihara Chiba have drawn their last two away matches, 0-0 at Roasso Kumamoto and 1-1 at Sagan Tosu, and suffered a rare home defeat to RB Omiya Ardija (1-2) prior to that. They have won only two of their last five, but there is no doubt that Yoshiyuki Kobayashi’s men are the team to beat in this division and they have the quality to get the better of Imabari FC on Sunday.

Imabari FC, who are fourth in the table with 25 points from 14 games, have been solid in the top half of the table for a while now, but have not been able to win at home in their last two (two draws). Keiji Kuraishi’s men have won only one of their seven home matches in the J2 League 2025, drawing five and losing one, but are unbeaten in their last five overall (W2, D3). Imabari FC are getting better as a team and are much more consistent than they were in the early stages of the season since Kuraishi took over as manager in February.

Jef United Ichihara Chiba are 2.15 to win this game with Imabari FC at 3.40, which makes the visitors the clear favourites based on the odds. Eduardo has been in good form for Chiba with two of his side’s last six goals, but Daichi Ishikawa is their main man up front with six in 13 J2 League 2025 appearances. Marcus Vinicius is Imabari FC’s main man with seven goals in 14 league appearances, but Yumeki Yokoyama has chipped in with three of their last nine, so he could be a threat to the Chiba defence. A low-scoring affair looks likely, with under 2.5 goals an interesting alternative bet given Imabari FC have conceded an average of 1.00 goals per game in their seven home matches and Chiba have scored 1.57 and conceded 0.86 on the road in J2 League 2025. There is no specific tactical analysis available, but Imabari FC are a well-disciplined team that can be difficult to break down while Chiba have been scoring goals on the road. We believe Chiba will have the quality to edge this one, but Imabari FC are a resilient team that could keep it close.