Cerezo Osaka vs Gamba Osaka

Cerezo Osaka and Gamba Osaka are set to trade tackles in the latest edition of this long-standing city rivalry at the Yodoko Sakura Stadium.

Things are not going Cerezo Osaka’s way these days, as they enter this round having won just one of their last five J1 League matches (D2, L2), three of which saw them fail to get on the scoresheet. On the bright side, Cerezo pulled off a dramatic 2-1 triumph over Jubilo Iwata in their most recent home league outing, halting an underwhelming run of five league games without winning (D2, L3). Still, a lack of goals has been a genuine issue for the ‘Sakura’ this term, as evidenced by their paltry scoring ratio of 0.83 goals per home fixture. Akio Kogiku’s lads are unlikely to improve against Gamba, though, as they’ve netted under 1.5 goals in their last four competitive H2Hs on home turf.

In the meantime, Gamba have picked themselves up from a frustrating five-match winless league streak (D3, L2) to win back-to-back J1 League fixtures by an aggregate score of 3-0, breaking the deadlock beyond the 70th minute on each occasion. Though a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Kashiwa Reysol on their most recent league travel ended Gamba’s run of four away league matches without winning (D3, L1), scoring remains the elephant in the room. Indeed, Tomohiro Katanosaka’s men have bagged one goal or fewer in each of their six J1 League games on the hostile ground this season, drawing a blank before half-time in all six.