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Gamba Osaka will host Vegalta Sendai at Panasonic Stadium in a J1 League fixture on Sunday.
The home side come into the game on the back of a 4-0 thrashing against city rivals Cerezo Osaka in the second leg of their quarterfinal tie in the League Cup. Four different men got on the scoresheet to help Cerezo progress with a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Vegalta Sendai suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Sagan Tosu on their own patch before the international break. Brazilian forward Eduardo scored the match-winner in the 66th minute.
The defeat left Vegalta Sendai in 18th place on 19 points and they need to start racking up points to avoid the drop. Gamba Osaka are fairly comfortable in 13th place having picked up 30 points from 27 matches.
Gamba Osaka vs Vegalta Sendai Head-to-Head
Gamba Osaka have 11 wins from their last 23 games against Vegalta Sendai. Six matches ended in a share of the spoils while Sendai were victorious on six occasions.
Their most recent meeting came in August when Gamba Osaka secured a 1-0 away victory in a re-scheduled matchday five fixture. Patric scored the winning goal in the first half.
Gamba Osaka form guide: L-W-L-L-D
Vegalta Sendai form guide: L-L-L-D-D
Gamba Osaka vs Vegalta Sendai Team News
Gamba Osaka
The hosts have three players ruled out with injuries. Haruto Shirai (cruciate ligament), Jun Ichimori (hamstring) and Wellington Silva (adductor) have all been sidelined by fitness issues. There are no suspension concerns for Gamba Osaka.
Injuries: Jun Ichimori, Wellington Silva, Haruto Shirai
Suspension: None
Vegalta Sendai
There are no known injuries or suspension concerns for the visitors.
Injuries: None
Suspension: None
Gamba Osaka vs Vegalta Sendai Predicted XI
Gamba Osaka Predicted XI (3-4-3): Masaaki Higashiguchi (GK); Hiroki Fujiharu, Shunya Suganuma, Genta Miura; Keisuke Kurokawa, Yuya Yamamoto, Kohei Okuno, Ko Yanagisawa; Takashi Usami, Shinya Yajima, Patric
Vegalta Sendai Predicted XI (3-4-3): Jakub Slowik (GK); Naoya Fukumori, Kyohei Yoshino, Hiashi Tawiah; Takayoshi Ishihara, Rikiya Uehara, Shingo Tomita, Takumi Mase; Shuhei Akasaki, Kunimitsu Sekiguchi, Cayman Togashi
Gamba Osaka vs Vegalta Sendai Prediction
None of the two sides have been in the best of form of late but Gamba Osaka have been more consistent throughout the season.
The hosts have struggled on their own patch but this could be offset by Vegalta Sendai's struggles on the road. We are predicting a narrow victory for Gamba Osaka.
Prediction: Gamba Osaka 1-0 Vegalta Sendai
