5 Things we learned from the opening round of SPL fixtures -

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1. Lestienne’s Golden Boot at risk

The 2023 Singapore Premier League (SPL) top scorer will not have it easy if he wants to defend his Golden Boot trophy.

Balestier’s Kodai Tanaka is back with a bang, while Tomoyuki Doi is rediscovering his form with the Eagles. Big Bad Boris Kopitovic always ready to challenge and not forgetting his fellow team-mate and Lion City Sailors’ latest signing – Lennart Thy.

With the goals flowing in from everywhere for the Sailors, the Belgian might need to get used to his role, from scorer to creator instead, for the team.

2. Redemption arc for Kodai & Doi

We need no introduction to these two names.

After an underwhelming season due to injury with the Sailors, Kodai will look to bounce back this year with the Tigers. Meanwhile, fellow Japanese counterpart and the 2021 top scorer Doi will also hope to rediscover his golden touch under the wings of Noor Ali.

It’s perhaps more than just goals and accolades that they are chasing, but lost time which they have suffered over the past seasons.

3. Japanese influence still strong

Albirex may have transited to become a local side, but the Japanese influence in the league still remains strong.

King Kazu (Yoshinaga) will look to his Japanese imports again in the likes of Stevia Egbus Mikuni, Yohei Otake and oldboy Jumbo Hoshino to reinforce the Singaporean core.

Tanjong Pagar have resigned Shodai Nishikawa, Tampines have retained the services of Shuya plus Seia Kunori, while even Young Lions have added Itsuki Enomoto, on loan from J3 side Matsumoto Yamaga.

4. DPMM ready to challenge, but the stadium is not

Under new coach Rui Capela, the Bruneians look like a whole different side. It may be early days, but the 2019 SPL Champions could well be one of the frontrunners for the title.

As the only side with a realistic home advantage at Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, they would look to make their advantage count. That is, with the assumption that it is ready.

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced just this week that DPMM’s first home game of the season will be moved to Jalan Besar due to ‘technical’ issues.

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5. Long season ahead for strugglers

While the race for the title heats up, it looks potentially like a long season ahead for the wooden spoon nominees.

Young Lions may have shown glimpses of promise during the earlier pre-season tournament, but their recent 7-1 mauling by Geylang exposed their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Hougang and Tanjong Pagar need to improve fast, otherwise both clubs might find themselves in an unwanted bottom-half dogfight soon.