The J1 League campaign continues this week and will see Shonan Bellmare host Gamba Osaka at the Shonan BMW Stadium on Wednesday.
Shonan Bellmare have found good form of late in their quest to avoid a relegation battle. They played out a goalless draw against Nagoya Grampus in their last game and perhaps deserved all three points as they created chances to score but could not convert.
Shonan Bellmare sit 15th in the league table, with 20 points from 19 games. They will be looking to continue their good run this week and pull further clear of the drop zone.
Gamba Osaka have struggled to impress in the J1 League this season. They were held to a 1-1 draw by the Urawa Reds in their last game and had looked set to pick up back-to-back league wins before conceding a penalty in additional time.
The visitors sit 13th in the league standings, just one point above their midweek hosts, and will be looking to widen that gap with maximum points this week.
Shonan Bellmare vs Gamba Osaka Head-to-Head
There have been 17 meetings between Shonan Bellmare and Gamba Osaka. The hosts have won just three of those games while the visitors have won 11 times. Their other three meetings have ended in draws.
The two sides last faced off in a league clash earlier this season, which Shonan Bellmare won 1-0.
Shonan Bellmare Form Guide: D-W-W-L-W
Gamba Osaka Form Guide: D-W-L-L-L
Shonan Bellmare vs Gamba Osaka Team News
Shonan Bellmare
Team top scorer Shuto Machino picked up a knock last time out and is a doubt for this one. Takuya Okamoto and Shuto Yamamoto are both injured and are set to miss out here.
Injured: Takuya Okamoto, Shuto Yamamoto
Doubtful: Shuto Machino
Suspended: None
Gamba Osaka
Takashi Usami, Yuya Fukuda, Yuki Yamamoto and Jun Ichimori are all injured and will not feature for the visitors this week.
Injured: Takashi Usami, Yuya Fukuda, Yuki Yamamoto, Jun Ichimori
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Shonan Bellmare vs Gamba Osaka Predicted XI
Shonan Bellmare Predicted XI (3-5-2): Kosei Tani; Daiki Sugioka, Kazuki Oiwa, Koki Tachi; Ryo Takahashi, Akimi Barada, Satoshi Tanaka, Masaki Ikeda, Hirozaku Ishihara; Yuki Ohasi, Yusuke Segawa
Gamba Osaka Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Masaaki Higashiguchi (GK); Gen Shoji, Genta Miura, Kwon Kyung-Won; Kosuke Onose, Kohei Okuno, Mitsuki Saito, Keisuke Kurokawa; Shu Kurata, Hideki Ishige; Isa Sakamoto
$1,100 First Bet Insurance at Caesars
Shonan Bellmare vs Gamba Osaka Prediction
Shonan Bellmare are undefeated in their last three league games and have lost just one of their last six. They are one of the most in-form sides in the J1 League at the moment and will be looking to keep their good run going on Wednesday.
Gamba Osaka, on the other hand, have won just one of their last six in the competition, with four of those games ending in defeat. The hosts should win this one.
Prediction: Shonan Bellmare 2-1 Gamba Osaka