V-League 2022: Home loss, away win and...

The list is very long, including Becamex.Binh Duong lost 0-1 to SLNA, Hong Linh Ha Tinh lost 0-1 to Hai Phong, T.Binh Dinh lost 0-2 to Viettel in round 1; SLNA lost 1-2 to T.Binh Dinh, Dong A Thanh Hoa lost 0-1 to B.Binh Duong in round 2; Hong Linh Ha Tinh lost 1-3 to T. Binh Dinh, Viettel lost 0-1 to Hanoi in round 3; Nam Dinh lost 0-1 to B.Binh Duong, Viettel lost 0-1 to HLHT in round 5; Hai Phong lost 0-1 to Viettel, Ho Chi Minh City lost 0-2 to Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Ho Chi Minh City lost 1-2 to Hong Linh Ha Tinh, T.Binh Dinh lost 0-1 to SHB Da Nang in round 9; Binh Duong lost 2-3 to B.Binh Dinh, Hong Linh Ha Tinh lost 3-4 to Saigon FC in round 10...

SLNA match against Hanoi FC. Photo courtesy of Chung Nguyen

The above mechanical statistics still show some things worth mentioning about the strength and improvement process of the teams after each round. Teams that lose at home but win away show the determination and reasonable adjustments of the coaches to put the team on the right track. However, if there is a loss at home and then immediately regains honor away, that team will have the opportunity to continue steadily in the following matches and vice versa.

For example, Becamex. Binh Duong lost narrowly to Song Lam Nghe An in the opening match in a fairly balanced match, but in the second round away, Tien Linh and his teammates had a narrow victory to regain 3 points at Thanh Hoa Stadium. Next, this team won 1-0 at Nam Dinh Stadium in round 5, but most recently they lost at home to T. Binh Dinh in round 10. What should be worried about is that Becamex. Binh Duong may not be able to recover from this defeat when the team is raising many big questions about the long-term steps.

Hong Linh Ha Tinh this season is also an interesting phenomenon when "overthrowing" the defending champion Viettel and Ho Chi Minh City on away field, but losing 3 home matches until the 10th round will be a strange and quite unpredictable difference for the team led by Mr. Thanh Cong.

Song Lam Nghe An currently has 1 away win and 1 home loss and a record of 4 consecutive home wins after that allows them to temporarily stay in the top 3 quite firmly. But the next rounds when facing real opponents like Hanoi FC, Viettel... will have a specific answer about the ability to withstand difficulties, whether Ngoc Hai and his teammates can overcome or not.

To see the current top team, Hanoi FC is a team that plays well both at home and away, although they lost points in an away match against SHB Da Nang. Hoang Anh Gia Lai did not play well at the beginning of the season, such as the loss to Song Lam Nghe An, but they are gradually regaining their winning streak of 4 consecutive matches, becoming a real challenger to any team. Someone warned that Hanoi FC should soon... be worried about Kiatisuk's team. But saying that is too hasty and certainly Hanoi FC has enough squad depth to welcome Hoang Anh Gia Lai, at home as well as away.

The V-League's climb to the finish line is still long and increasingly difficult. Any team that can keep 3 points in all home matches will allow them to comfortably stay in the league and can dream of a higher position if they try to gain more points from away matches. Any team that continues to lose at home and cannot improve away from home is likely to be "ganged up" as a point bank for others to plunder. The race is therefore unpredictable when the two Saigon teams that struggled before, both simultaneously won 3 points in the 10th round, in which, Saigon FC got the first 3 points away from home, which is a great reward. Coaches Minh Chien and Thanh Phuong will continue to steer the team and it is not yet possible to say what will happen if they are really regaining what they have lost.

V-League seems to have revealed the top and bottom teams early, but everything will be turned upside down and erased if the top teams slow down and the bottom teams rush forward. Losing at home, winning away or just winning at home is fine and other related things are always the constant surprises of football. Happily, V-League has been and is bringing those surprises, interesting and becoming more worth watching than ever.