Both Yokohama FC and Gamba Osaka will be looking to return to winning ways in the J1 League when they go toe-to-toe at the NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium on Wednesday.
The hosts head into the game off the back of a 3-1 defeat against Cerezo Osaka, while the visitors were held to an uneventful goalless draw by FC Tokyo.
Yokohama FC’s slump in form continued as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against Cerezo Osaka last Saturday.
Tiago Pagnussat scored a 37-minute brace to cancel out Kazuma Watanabe’s opener, before Tatsuhiro Sakamoto completed the rout with a 55th-minute strike.
Prior to that, Tomonobu Hayakawa’s men were on a four-game unbeaten streak, picking up two wins and two draws.
However, a poor start to the league campaign sees Yokohama FC rooted to the bottom of the J1 League table. They have picked up just 15 points from 25 games and are eight points away from safety.
Meanwhile, Gamba Osaka were denied a third win on the bounce last time out when they played out a bore draw against FC Tokyo.
This followed a 2-0 extra-time win over Matsumoto Yamaga FC in the last-16 of the Emperor's Cup last Wednesday.
Masanobu Matsunami’s side have now avoided defeat in their last three games, picking up two wins and one draw.
With 30 points from 25 games, Gamba Osaka are currently 13th in the league standings, level on points with Cerezo Osaka.
Yokohama FC vs Gamba Osaka Head-To-Head
Gamba Osaka have been utterly dominant in this fixture, claiming four wins from their previous seven meetings. Yokohama FC are yet to taste victory against the visitors, while three games have ended in draws.
Yokohama FC Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-W-D-L
Gamba Osaka Form Guide (all competitions): L-L-W-W-D
Yokohama FC vs Gamba Osaka Team News
Yokohama FC
Yokohama FC remain without Kosuke Saito and Yota Maejima, who have been ruled out through injuries.
Injured: Kosuke Saito, Yota Maejima
Suspended: None
Gamba Osaka
The visitors will be without the services of Jun Ichimori, Haruto Shirai, Ryu Takao and Wellington Silva, who have all been sidelined through injuries.
Injured: Jun Ichimori, Haruto Shirai, Ryu Takao, Wellington Silva
Suspended: None
Yokohama FC vs Gamba Osaka Predicted XI
Yokohama FC Predicted XI (3-4-3): Yuji Rokutan; Yutaro Hakamata, Hogang Han, Masahiko Inoha; Yuya Takagi, Tatsuki Seko, Hideto Takahashi, Calvin Jong-a-Pin; Ryo Germain, Kejiro Ogawa, Kazume Watanabe
Gamba Osaka Predicted XI (3-4-3): Masaaki Higashiguchi; Young-Gwon Kim, Shunya Suganuma, Genta Mura; Keisuke Kurokawa, Yuki Yamamoto, Kohei Okuno, Shu Kurata; Takashi Usami, Shinya Yajima, Leandro Pereira
Yokohama FC vs Gamba Osaka Prediction
Both sides have performed poorly this season and are currently languishing in the bottom half of the table. Gamba Osaka have been the better side in the history of this fixture and we predict this trend will continue with them claiming all three points on Wednesday.
Prediction: Yokohama FC 0-2 Gamba Osaka
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