Gamba Osaka vs Urawa Reds prediction, preview, team news and more

Gamba Osaka will go head to head against Urawa Red Diamonds in the J1 League on Saturday.

The hosts snapped their five-match losing streak after rallying back from behind to take a 2-1 win over Avispa Fukuoka. Nevertheless, they still remain in the bottom half of the points table.

The Diamonds, meanwhile, picked up their second consecutive win, upstaging Vissel Kobe 1-0 to extend their unbeaten league run to three games.

Gamba Osaka vs Urawa Reds Head-to-Head

The two teams have squared off 95 times across competitions. The fixture has been closely contested, with the hosts enjoying a narrow 40-39 lead in wins. The spoils have been shared on the other 16 occasions.

They last met in the Emperor's Cup quarterfinal in October at the Panasonic Stadium Suita. Urawa secured a 2-0 win and went on to lift the cup.

Gamba Osaka form guide (all competitions): W-L-L-L-L.

Urawa Reds form guide (all competitions): W-W-D-L-D.

Gamba Osaka vs Urawa Reds Team News

Gamba Osaka

Jun Ichimori has not played in their last two games and remains a doubt for this one. He picked up an injury in training, and there have been no updates regarding his recovery.

Injury: Jun Ichimori.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.

Unavailable: None.

Urawa Reds

There are no reported injury concerns for the Reds. Takahiro Akimoto's straight red card in their last outing will keep him out of this game, though.

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspension: Takahiro Akimoto.

Unavailable: None.

Gamba Osaka vs Urawa Reds Predicted XIs

Gamba Osaka (3-4-3): Kei Ishikawa (GK); Ko Yanagisawa, Gen Shoji, Ryu Takao; Keisuke Kurokawa, Shu Kurata, Se-Jong Ju, Kosuke Onose; Takashi Usami, Hideki Ishige, Leandro Pereira,

Urawa Reds (4-2-3-1): Shushaku Nishikawa (GK); Takuya Iwanami, Alexander Scholz, Kazuaki Mawatari, Hiroki Sakai; Atsuki Ito, Kai Shibato; Yoshio Koizumi, Takahiro Sekine, Kaito Yasui; Ataru Esaka.