Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Tokyo & Gamba Osaka face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the J-League Cup. All the pre-match information is available here!
It's no vacation for neither Tokyo nor Gamba Osaka as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Tokyo form and stats
Tokyo participated in J-League Cup the last season, where they reached the group stage.Tokyo have collected 7 points from their J-League home games so far after 2-1-1.
The Tokyo fans got no joy from their last match, also played here at Ajinomoto Stadium: A 1-2 defeat against Cerezo Osaka. Watanabe, a forward, was the top player for the side in that fixture, scoring a rating of 7.84 (out of 10). Watanabe scored one goal, hit two key passes, dribled past the opponent 3 of 3 times and had 26 successful passes (of 29 total).
Preceding that game was the home draw versus Shonan Bellmare that ended 2-2.This is expected to be a close game, with Tokyo perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Tokyo as a small favourite), we find 12 games. Tokyo has won 5 of these, drawn 3 and lost 4.
Tokyo are traveling soon after this match as the J-League match at Sanfrecce Hiroshima awaits in three days.
Tokyo's goalkeeper has had to pick the ball out of their own net 5 times. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Gamba Osaka form and stats
Last season their J-League Cup adventure ended in the group stage.As the visiting team in J-League matches, Gamba Osaka have produced an overall stat of 0-1-3 so far.
There might be some fixture complaints from Gamba Osaka as they are again playing away from home after losing on the road in their previous game, 1-2 against Kyoto Sanga. Defender Handa was the best team player with a rating of 7.44. Handa hit two key passes and won 7 of 10 duels.
That result followed a home victory 2-0 versus Kawasaki Frontale in the J-League.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Gamba playing away and similar expectations, we found 11 relevant matches. Results were 3 Gamba Osaka wins, 7 draws and 1 defeat.
After this away game Gamba Osaka return home for a J-League game against Yokohama. That game is only four sleeps after this.
{4 goals} so far away for Gamba Osaka, while their defence has allowed the opposition to score 12. All from 4 league matches away.
Head 2 Head
Gamba Osaka - Tokyo 3-0 was the result in these squads' last H2H game, played this season. Previous ten meetings with these squads: Tokyo won five, Gamba Osaka triumphed in three and we saw two draws. four games with more than 2,5 goals, six matches with under 2,5 goals.
Top Goalscorers
  R. Watanabe 2 goals |  D. Queiroz de Oliveira 2 goals | T. Nakagawa 2 goals |
Tokyo missing players
Gamba Osaka missing players
| Tokyo | Gamba Osaka | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 9 | 6 | Won | W | 4 | 8 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Drew | D | 2 | 8 | ||
| 11 | 4 | Lost | L | 6 | 9 | ||
| 37 | 25 | Scored | S | 17 | 32 | ||
| 33 | 14 | Conceded | C | 26 | 39 | ||
| 92% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 88% | ||
| 80% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 83% | 84% | ||
| 52% | 58% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 67% | 52% | ||
| 28% | 50% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 50% | 28% | ||
| 12% | 17% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 25% | 12% | ||
| 40% | 42% | BTTS | BTTS | 58% | 52% | ||
| 32% | 42% | Clean Sheets | C S | 33% | 36% | ||
| 36% | 17% | Failed to Score | F T | 17% | 24% | ||
| 4.4 | 4.6 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.5 | 4.4 | ||
| 4.9 | 5.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.2 | 4.8 | ||
| 1.2 | 0.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.5 | 1.4 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 11.6 | 13.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.2 | 12.5 | ||
| 4 | 4.8 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.7 | 4.6 | ||
| 37% | 44% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 39% | 27% | ||
| 12.9 | 12.3 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 15.8 | 13.3 | ||
| 4.1 | 3.8 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 6.8 | 5.3 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Gamba Osaka | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 2 | Cerezo Osaka | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -3 | 4 |
| 3 | Tokyo | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Kyoto Sanga | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -3 | 3 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Vissel Kobe | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 19 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| 3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 17 |
| 4 | Urawa Reds | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
| 5 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 14 |
| 6 | Avispa Fukuoka | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| 7 | Kyoto Sanga | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
| 8 | Albirex Niigata | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 12 |
| 9 | Cerezo Osaka | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | Shonan Bellmare | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 11 | Tokyo | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 12 | Consadole Sapporo | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 10 | -3 | 9 |
| 13 | Kawasaki Frontale | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -3 | 8 |
| 14 | Sagan Tosu | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -5 | 8 |
| 15 | Kashima Antlers | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | -4 | 7 |
| 16 | Gamba Osaka | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | -7 | 6 |
| 17 | Kashiwa Reysol | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -7 | 6 |
| 18 | Yokohama | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | -16 | 2 |
