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The Urawa Reds lock horns with Gamba Osaka at the Saitama Stadium in J League action on Saturday. Both sides will be looking to secure their first win of the campaign.
The hosts bounced back from their 1-0 loss in the opening fixture of the competition as they held Vissel Kobe to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.
The visiting side kicked off their campaign with a 1-3 loss against Kashima Antlers. They suffered a 3-2 loss against local rivals Cerezo Osaka in their J League Cup group stage fixture on Wednesday and will be vying to secure their first point of the season here.
Urawa Reds vs Gamba Osaka Head-to-Head
The two rivals have squared off 95 times across all competitions. The fixture has been closely contested between the two sides, with the hosts enjoying a narrow 40-39 lead in wins. The spoils have been shared 16 times in this fixture.
They last met in the Emperor's Cup quarter-final fixture in October at Panasonic Stadium Suita. The hosts secured a 2-0 win as they went on to lift the cup title in December.
Urawa Reds form guide (all competitions): D-L-W
Gamba Osaka form guide (all competitions): L-L
Urawa Reds vs Gamba Osaka Team News
Urawa Reds
There are no reported injury concerns for the Reds for this league fixture. Takahiro Akimoto's straight red card against Vissel Kobe will keep him out of this game.
Injury: None
Doubtful: None
Suspension: Takahiro Akimoto
Gamba Osaka
Jun Ichimori has not featured for the club in the two games so far and remains a doubt for the trip to Saitama. He picked up an injury last season and there have been no updates regarding his recovery.
Brazilian striker Patric's straight red card has resulted in a one-game ban, though he featured in the cup game on Wednesday.
Injury: Jun Ichimori
Doubtful: None
Suspension: Patric
Urawa Reds vs Gamba Osaka Predicted XI
Urawa Reds Predicted XI (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
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; Takashi Usami, Hideki Ishige, Leandro Pereira
Urawa Reds vs Gamba Osaka Prediction
Both sides have had a slow start to the campaign, having scored two and three goals respectively while conceding three and six goals as well. Both sides will each have a first-team player suspended here, so the game is expected to be a low-scoring affair.
Prediction: Urawa Reds 1-1 Gamba Osaka
