Gamba Osaka will go head to head against Urawa Red Diamonds in the J1 League on Saturday.
The hosts snapped their five-match losing streak after rallying back from behind to take a 2-1 win over Avispa Fukuoka. Nevertheless, they still remain in the bottom half of the points table.
The Diamonds, meanwhile, picked up their second consecutive win, upstaging Vissel Kobe 1-0 to extend their unbeaten league run to three games.
Gamba Osaka vs Urawa Reds Head-to-Head
The two teams have squared off 95 times across competitions. The fixture has been closely contested, with the hosts enjoying a narrow 40-39 lead in wins. The spoils have been shared on the other 16 occasions.
They last met in the Emperor's Cup quarterfinal in October at the Panasonic Stadium Suita. Urawa secured a 2-0 win and went on to lift the cup.
Gamba Osaka form guide (all competitions): W-L-L-L-L.
Urawa Reds form guide (all competitions): W-W-D-L-D.
Gamba Osaka vs Urawa Reds Team News
Gamba Osaka
Jun Ichimori has not played in their last two games and remains a doubt for this one. He picked up an injury in training, and there have been no updates regarding his recovery.
Injury: Jun Ichimori.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Urawa Reds
There are no reported injury concerns for the Reds. Takahiro Akimoto's straight red card in their last outing will keep him out of this game, though.
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspension: Takahiro Akimoto.
Unavailable: None.
Gamba Osaka vs Urawa Reds Predicted XIs
Gamba Osaka (3-4-3): Kei Ishikawa (GK); Ko Yanagisawa, Gen Shoji, Ryu Takao; Keisuke Kurokawa, Shu Kurata, Se-Jong Ju, Kosuke Onose; Takashi Usami, Hideki Ishige, Leandro Pereira,
Urawa Reds (4-2-3-1): Shushaku Nishikawa (GK); Takuya Iwanami, Alexander Scholz, Kazuaki Mawatari, Hiroki Sakai; Atsuki Ito, Kai Shibato; Yoshio Koizumi, Takahiro Sekine, Kaito Yasui; Ataru Esaka.
$1,100 First Bet Insurance at Caesars
Gamba Osaka vs Urawa Reds Prediction
A point separates the two teams at this moment, and neither team is in contention for the league title.
Historically this has been a tight fixture, so it remains a tough one to call this time around as well. A draw is possibly on the cards.
Prediction: Gamba Osaka 1-1 Urawa Reds.