📏 Form Guide

Albirex Niigata

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Albirex Niigata head into this fixture following a 1-1 J1 League tied result against Kashiwa Reysol.

In that match, Albirex Niigata managed 72% possession and 10 attempts at goal with 1 of them on target. The only player to score for Albirex Niigata was Soya Fujiwara (94'). On the other side, Kashiwa Reysol had 8 attempts at goal with 4 on target. Mao Hosoya (74') was the scorer for Kashiwa Reysol.

Rikizo Matsuhashi's Albirex Niigata have managed to score a sum total of 10 times in their last half-dozen outings. At the other end, the tally of goals that they have conceded in those fixtures is 7.

Pre-game facts show that Albirex Niigata:

• have not emerged victorious against Gamba Osaka in their previous 3 league matches.
• have not won at home in their last 3 matches in the league.

Gamba Osaka

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Gamba Osaka will go into the clash following on from a 3-4 J1 League win with the eclipse of Júbilo Iwata in their previous match.

In that match, Gamba Osaka had 63% possession and 14 attempts on goal with 7 of them on target. For Gamba Osaka, the goalscorers were Riku Handa (27'), Ryoya Yamashita (45'), Takashi Usami (62') and Isa Sakamoto (93'). For their opponents, Jubilo Iwata got 16 attempts at goal with 4 of them on target. Ryo Watanabe (23'), Rikiya Uehara (87') and Kaito Suzuki (91') scored for Júbilo Iwata.

Gamba Osaka have been a threat going forward in the lead-up to this encounter, scoring 11 goals in their previous 6 matches. While their manager Daniel Poyatos will no doubt take that as a positive sign, Gamba Osaka have had their own issues at the back, also conceding in 6 of those same clashes.

Looking at the pre-match facts, Gamba Osaka:

• have not been beaten by Albirex Niigata in away games against them for the last 9 league matches. Travelling fans must really look forward to this fixture.
• have not been beaten in their last 2 league matches away from home.

↔️ Head to head

A look at their past head to head clashes dating back to 29/10/2016 tells us that Albirex Niigata have won 1 of these and Gamba Osaka 4, with the number of drawn games standing at 1.

A combined total of 17 goals were produced between them in these games, with 6 for Albirex and 11 for Gamba Osaka. This gives an average number of goals per game equal to 2.83.

The previous league clash featuring these sides was J1 League match day 2 on 02/03/2024 when it ended Gamba Osaka 1-0 Albirex Niigata.

On that occasion, Gamba Osaka managed 43% possession and 17 attempts on goal with 5 of them on target. The scorer was Takashi Usami (75').

At the other end, Albirex Niigata had 4 attempts at goal with 1 on target.

The match was refereed by Koji Takasaki.

ℹ️ Team News: Albirex Niigata

There is just one fitness concern for the Albirex Niigata manager Rikizo Matsuhashi to be concerned about thanks to an otherwise robust set of players. Haruki Nishimura (Elbow injury) is sidelined.

It seems likely that Albirex Niigata look set to opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation, handing starts to Ryosuke Kojima, Soya Fujiwara, M. James Fitzgerald, Hayato Inamura, Kento Hashimoto, Hiroki Akiyama, Yuji Hoshi, Danilo, Motoki Hasegawa, Yota Komi and Yuji Ono.

📰 Team News: Gamba Osaka

Gamba Osaka boss Daniel Poyatos has some current player fitness concerns. Takashi Usami (Hamstring injury), Genta Miura (Cruciate ligament injury) and Neta Lavi (Cartilage damage) are those who can’t be considered.

We are inclined to think that Gamba Osaka seem likely to play in a 4-2-3-1 formation, starting Jun Ichimori, Riku Handa, Shinnosuke Nakatani, Shota Fukuoka, Keisuke Kurokawa, Dawhan, Tokuma Suzuki, Ryoya Yamashita, Kota Yamada, Welton and Isa Sakamoto.

💡 Prediction

We are of the inclination to think that Gamba Osaka and Albirex Niigata could both end up scoring in what appears to be a good match-up, with little separating these two teams.

A draw looks like a realistic possibility, but we’ll see what happens. We therefore think that it’s going to be a tight encounter, finishing with a 1-1 score draw after 90 minutes.

Our expert partners are tipping under 3.5 goals for this match. Check out their VIP predictions here.

Victor Martins, 04:02 30/11/2024