Thursday, June 26

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Sports Mole previews Saturday's J1 League clash between Kyoto Sanga and Gamba Osaka, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Kyoto Sanga play host to Gamba Osaka on Saturday looking for the win that will keep them on the coattails of second position in the J1 League table.

At a time when the home side sit in sixth place, the visitors to the Sanga Stadium by Kyocera are down in 11th spot.

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Match preview

Having only finished in 13th place last season, everyone associated with Kyoto Sanga will be delighted with their current position in the standings.

However, it should be far better, Cho Kwi-jae's side having prevailed in just three of their last nine games to now sit six points behind leaders Kashima Antlers.

To their credit, though, Kyoto have played top-seven teams in their last two outings, beginning with a 2-1 reverse at the home of Urawa Red Diamonds.

Last weekend, a 3-3 draw was earned at the home of second-placed Kashiwa Reysol, coming from behind on three occasions to secure a valiant share of the spoils.

The aim now is to respond to dropping to their lowest position since the middle of April and kick-start their efforts to lift what would be their first-ever J1 League title.

Standing in their way on Saturday is a Gamba Osaka side that have seemingly responded to a four-game winless streak.

While it was extended to five with a goalless draw against Shimizu S-Pulse, that was followed by a 2-0 success over FC Tokyo.

Keeping two clean sheets in a row will come as a relief to Dani Poyatos whose team still possess one of the worst defensive records in the division, albeit still only shipping 27 goals in 21 matches.

Nevertheless, trailing their next opponents by just the seven points, a win here would pull them back into the reckoning for a top-six finish come the end of the campaign.

Kyoto Sanga J1 League form:

Gamba Osaka J1 League form:

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Team News

Kyoto face making a change in defence after Yuta Miyamoto was forced off injured during the second half of the thriller with Kashiwa Reysol.

Shogo Asada replaced him on that occasion and should feature here, while Shun Nagasawa could return to the attack after his goal as a substitute.

Takeru Kishimoto is also pushing for a start on the Gamba Osaka flank after coming off the bench to score against FC Tokyo.

The places of Ryoya Yamashita and Welton are both at risk if that alteration is made, with Tokuma Suzuki being viewed as a potential replacement for Neta Lavi.

Kyoto Sanga possible starting lineup:

Ota; Fukuda, Suzuki, Asada, Sugai; Kawasaki, Fukuoka, Yonemoto; Nagasawa, Hara, Matsuda

Gamba Osaka possible starting lineup:

Ichimori; Handa, Nakatani, Fukuoka, Kurokawa; Abe, Lavi; Kishimoto, Usami, Welton; Hummet

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We say: Kyoto Sanga 1-1 Gamba Osaka

 

With both teams in positive form ahead of this contest, we are expecting a more competitive encounter than many will be anticipating. With the visitors conceding just once in three games, the benefit of the doubt goes to them and we are backing a low-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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