National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Kashima Antlers or Gamba Osaka that keep their silverware dream alive.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Kashima and Gamba Osaka.
Kashima Antlers form and stats
Last season their Emperor Cup adventure ended in the quarter-finals.Kashima Antlers shared the glory with Consadole Sapporo in their last match, an away game that ended all square 0-0. Tsunemoto was "man of the match" with a rating of 7.62 out of 10. The defender Tsunemoto hit one key pass and won 3 of 4 duels.
Preceding that game was the home draw versus Cerezo Osaka that ended 3-3.Another home game is coming up fairly shortly for the hosts, as Vissel Kobe are coming to town in three days.
The Kashima fans have had their share of opportunities to cheer home goals this season, having seen 20 goals in 11 league matches. Kashima Antlers's goalkeeper has had to pick the ball out of their own net 16 times. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Gamba Osaka form and stats
Gamba Osaka was sent out of Emperor Cup in the quarter-finals last season.Gamba Osaka have only collected 9 points from their away games in the J-League, after 2-3-6 (11 played).
Gamba Osaka have been frustrated by their lack of goals lately, as they haven't scored in the league since they found the net 237 minutes ago. Saito was the goal scorer.
Gamba play their second straight away game, having lost the previous one 0-4 to Kawasaki Frontale. As you can see from the result above, the defeat against Kawasaki Frontale was particularly ugly (0-4). The humiliation is still top of mind. It's not a good sign for Gamba Osaka that their goalie Higashiguchi made six saves in the Kawasaki Frontale match, but still were unable to stop a loss.
It was a J-League defeat before that one as the away game against Shonan Bellmare wasn't a success with a 0-1 loss.The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting Cerezo Osaka in just three days.
The visitors have scored 7 goals from 11 away games in the league, an average of less than one per game. 16 goals have been conceded by Gamba in these games.
Head 2 Head
Last ten meetings featuring these participants: Kashima Antlers won five, Gamba Osaka were winners in one and we saw four draws. five games with more than 2,5 goals, five matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  A. Ueda 10 goals |  Y. Suzuki 7 goals |  A. do Nascimento Cruz 6 goals |
Kashima Antlers missing players
Gamba Osaka missing players
| Kashima Antlers | Gamba Osaka | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 15 | 10 | Won | W | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Drew | D | 4 | 7 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Lost | L | 7 | 11 | ||
| 48 | 33 | Scored | S | 7 | 30 | ||
| 29 | 17 | Conceded | C | 20 | 36 | ||
| 92% | 93% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 92% | ||
| 80% | 86% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 67% | 76% | ||
| 72% | 86% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 33% | 44% | ||
| 32% | 36% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 25% | 36% | ||
| 16% | 29% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 12% | ||
| 60% | 64% | BTTS | BTTS | 50% | 56% | ||
| 28% | 29% | Clean Sheets | C S | 17% | 24% | ||
| 20% | 14% | Failed to Score | F T | 42% | 28% | ||
| 4.4 | 5.1 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 2.8 | 3.5 | ||
| 4.8 | 4.6 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3.8 | 4.4 | ||
| 1.2 | 0.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 0.7 | 1.2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 2 | ||
| 12.7 | 14.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 8 | 9.6 | ||
| 5.1 | 6.4 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2.7 | 3.8 | ||
| 37% | 37% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 22% | 32% | ||
| 9.3 | 8.2 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 14.5 | 13.2 | ||
| 3.3 | 2.5 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 5.2 | 4.6 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 21 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 46 | 23 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 17 | 23 | 44 |
| 2 | Kashima Antlers | 21 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 34 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 39 |
| 3 | Kawasaki Frontale | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 31 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 37 |
| 4 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 21 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 28 | 21 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 34 |
| 5 | Kashiwa Reysol | 21 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 22 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 33 |
| 6 | Cerezo Osaka | 21 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 32 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 7 | 32 |
| 7 | Tokyo | 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 20 | -3 | 29 |
| 8 | Sagan Tosu | 20 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 27 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 16 | 5 | 27 |
| 9 | Urawa Reds | 21 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 25 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 26 |
| 10 | Avispa Fukuoka | 21 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 12 | -1 | 26 |
| 11 | Nagoya Grampus | 21 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 13 | -6 | 25 |
| 12 | Kyoto Sanga | 21 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 14 | -4 | 24 |
| 13 | Shonan Bellmare | 21 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 9 | -6 | 24 |
| 14 | Consadole Sapporo | 21 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 19 | 36 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 27 | -17 | 24 |
| 15 | Gamba Osaka | 21 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 29 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 | -8 | 21 |
| 16 | Vissel Kobe | 21 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 17 | -7 | 20 |
| 17 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 21 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 33 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 13 | -8 | 20 |
| 18 | Jubilo Iwata | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -10 | 19 |
