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Kashima Antlers and Gamba Osaka lock horns at the Kashima Stadium in their J League Cup group stage fixture on Saturday.
The two sides are winless in two games so far, with the hosts occupying last place in Group A and the visiting side in third place.
Kashima have enjoyed better league form than the visitors and are in third place in the J League standings. They made it three wins in a row with a 2-1 victory over Shonan Bellmare last Saturday.
Gamba Osaka have struggled to hit their stride this season and have just one win to their name. They suffered a 3-2 loss at home to Avispa Fukuoka last Saturday, extending their winless run to four games across all competitions.
Kashima Antlers vs Gamba Osaka Head-to-Head
The two sides have squared off 82 times across all competitions. With a win in half of these fixtures, the Antlers have been the better side against their Western rivals.
Nerazzurri have been able to get the better of the hosts 26 times while the spoils have been shared 15 times between the two rivals. In the 10 J League Cup meetings between the two sides so far, the story is similar, with Kashima leading 5-3 in wins while two games have ended in draws.
They last met in the opening fixtures of the J1 League 2022 campaign at the Panasonic Stadium Suita. Kashima secured a 3-1 win, which was their third win in a row against the visitors.
Kashima Antlers form guide (all competitions): W-D-W-W-L
Gamba Osaka form guide (all competitions): L-D-D-D-W
Kashima Antlers vs Gamba Osaka Team News
Kashima Antlers
Naoki Hayashi is the only injury concern for the hosts as he is yet to make an appearance in the 2022 campaign so far. Ayase Ueda, who has scored four goals across all competitions this season, is currently with Japan for the World Cup qualifiers and remains unavailable for selection.
Injury: Naoki Hayashi
Doubtful: None
Suspension: None
Unavailable: Ayase Ueda
Gamba Osaka
Takashi Usami has not played in over a month for the club with an injury, while Masaaki Higashiguchi is yet to make an appearance this season and is an absentee for the visiting side.
Kwon Kyung-won was called up by South Korea for their World Cup qualifying fixtures and remains unavailable for selection here.
Dawhan received his visa-related clearance earlier this week and is in contention to start here.
Injury: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Takashi Usami
Doubtful: None
Suspension: None
Unavailable: Kwon Kyung-won
Kashima Antlers vs Gamba Osaka Predicted XI
Kashima Antlers Predicted XI (4-4-2): Kwoun Sun-tae (GK); Koki Anzai, Kento Misao, Ikuma Sekigawa, Keigo Tsunemoto; Ryuji Izumi, Pituca, Juan Alano, Shoma Doi; Yuma Suzuki, Ryotaro Araki
Gamba Osaka Predicted XI (3-4-3): Kei Ishikawa (GK); Ko Yanagisawa, Gen Shoji, Ryu Takao; Keisuke Kurokawa, Shu Kurata, Se-Jong Ju, Kosuke Onose; Patric, Hideki Ishige, Leandro Pereira
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Kashima Antlers vs Gamba Osaka Prediction
The hosts have enjoyed a good run against the visiting side and are the favorites here. Though they have outscored them 8-7 in league fixtures, they boast a much better defensive record, conceding four goals against the nine conceded by Gamba Osaka.
While the Antlers are expected to miss the services of their top-scorer Ueda, they have enough quality in their ranks to secure a narrow win here.
Prediction: Kashima Antlers 2-1 Gamba Osaka
