Gamba Osaka – GK Kimura and DF Nakazawa are both out with broken legs. FW Kawanishi still regaining match fitness after a broken leg – not ready. DF Eduardo long term injury. The club signed DF Iwashita from S-Pulse on loan.

Cerezo Osaka – MFs Yamaguchi and Ogihara are with Olympic team and MF B K Kim is with Korea’s Olympic team. FW Sugimoto has officially returned to the club from a loan period at Tokyo Verdy, but is with the Olympic squad right now! MFs Kurogi and Maruhashi are suspended.

10 wins for Gamba, 3 for Cerezo, and three draws over the last decade or so. To note, though, two of those Cerezo wins have come in the last three meetings – earlier in J1 this season.

A win for Gamba Osaka here – on the back of a win over Omiya Ardija last weekend – will lift the club, in more ways than one. Another win will out the terrible start to the season behind them, bring them up to within a point of their neighbours, as well as putting pressure on Omiya and Niigata. The gain in confidence that two wins-in-a-row would do for Gamba Osaka would be immeasurable. Contrarily, a loss would quite possibly condemn Gamba to a relegation dogfight that they would not win. Leandro scored two goals against Omiya and could well have had 3 or 4 more with a little luck. A forward high in confidence and a defence on their toes due to the arrival of new blood all adds up to the recipe to win for Gamba.

Cerezo Osaka, on the other hand, have lost their complete midfield – Kiyotake and Kim transferred out, and Yamaguchi and Ogihara at London 2012 – AND some of their replacements are suspended for this game! Kakitani is firing on all cylinders, but one man does not make a team (and how long before he is looking for a move overseas, too!?). The trio of Olympic athletes returning for the next game may help cerezo pull away from the drop zone but, for this game, at least, they will struggle,

EXPECT a WIN for GAMBA OSAKA!