Gamba Osaka – DF Akira Kaji out for at least one month. MF Sasaki must be considered doubtful. DF Eduardo out with a broken leg, FW Kawanishi still out recovering from broken leg.
Sagan Tosu – MF Mizunuma is in France with the U23 team. MF Takahashi still out for another month.
This will be the first meeting between these two teams!
This match scheduled for Friday night to allow Gamba ample time to prepare for an expected ACL match the next Tuesday, but they did not qualify for the knockout stages, so now a Friday night inconvenience perhaps! Gamba Osaka (P11 W2 D3 L6 GD -9) have two draws in their last two matches but could really use some wins, being five points adrift of relegation safety already. Now that they are out of the ACL they can concentrate on rebuilding the team and consolidating their J1 position for next season.
Sagan Tosu (P4 D5 L3 GD +3) have not won in their last five games, losing last time out, and the four games before that all ended in draws. They are still unbeaten at home but are due for a loss away from home. Mizunuma will be a big loss for the away team, while Gamba Osaka are missing the experience of Kaji but it surely must be time to ease in a new right back, anyway, is Daiki Niwa that man? This must surely be the chance for Gamba’s new beginning and, if they don’t win this one, they will know that safety will get further away with over one third of the season gone. EXPECT a WIN for GAMBA OSAKA.
Great to get info on injured players. Gamba looked dreadful against Adelaide. Sagan Tosu look good value despite Mr Gibson’s analysis.
What a game this turned out to be … Gamba should have killed it early on and then lost to a last kick after STILL trying to get a win when a draw was probably what they NEEDED in this position! Same old Gamba, too adventurous!