No one who watched Sanfrecce Hiroshima barely avoid relegation last season could have imagined that they would top the J. League table after 13 games of the 2018 campaign.

But after racking up 11 wins and a draw to surpass their entire points total from last season by only the first week of May, it is clear that expectations for Hiroshi Jofuku's side will have to be drastically revised.

"We're only just over a third of the way through a long season, but so far the players have all come together as one team — those who have been playing and those who haven't," Jofuku said after Sanfrecce beat Vissel Kobe 2-0 on Sunday to re-establish an eight-point lead at the top of the table.