J-League match preview and statistics: Tokyo fight Gamba Osaka

These are busy days for the home team, as they were in action only three days ago in the Nabisco Cup. Thankfully the previous game, versus Oita Trinita, was also a home game here at Ajinomoto Stadium. The away team is better rested.

Tokyo form and stats

4-0-4 (win-draw-lost) are the J-League numbers at home for Tokyo, who have the most conceded goals (18) at home in J-League, so far this season. Game days at Ajinomoto Stadium have recently become somewhat of a nightmare for Tokyo as they have lost three home games in a row. It hurts.

A draw after 90 minutes last time out for Tokyo, who played 1-1 against Oita Trinita. That match was also played at this venue (Ajinomoto Stadium).

In the preceding match a 4-0 victory visiting Kashiwa Reysol.

The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Tokyo have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found ten matches with the results: Won six, drawn zero and lost four.

There will be little rest for Tokyo after this match as they are travelling to Shimizu S-Pulse for a J-League game in only four days.

Tokyo have proved capable of finding the net in their games here at Ajinomoto Stadium with 15 goals in 8 league matches. Tokyo have conceded 18 goals in these home games, a significant number. It's worth mentioning that 9 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 home matches.

Gamba Osaka form and stats

There's been little loot from Gamba Osaka's travels as they have only collected 5 points from 6 away games in the J-League. Gamba Osaka, who have the fewest scored goals (3) in J-League, only have 1 win to counter their 3 defeats and 2 draws. It's a growing despair in Gamba as they have recorded three consecutive losses.

This game can not go any worse than the last one, a J-League home defeat versus Urawa Reds with 0-3 on the scoreboard. Attacker Takashi Usami got a player rating of 7.22 in the game. "Man of the match" Usami hit three key passes, dribled passed the opponent 3 of 5 times and had 35 successful passes (of 39 total). Gamba did not look prepared in the first half against Urawa Reds and lost the game during the first 45 minutes. They need to evaluate their pre-match routine before this one.

A 1-2 loss hosting Sanfrecce Hiroshima before that.

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 15 relevant matches. Results were four Gamba Osaka wins, six draws and five defeats.

Gamba are seemingly not capable of scoring regularly on their travels in the league. They have only managed 2 goals from 6 away games. It's worth mentioning that 2 of these goals has been scored in their last three away matches. Gamba Osaka are defending well in their away games, having conceded only 5 times in 6 matches. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above. It's worth mentioning that 3 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 away matches.

Head 2 Head

Head-to-head totals (for the last ten meetings): Tokyo won four games, two matches ended with a draw and Gamba Osaka has four wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: six / four

Top Goalscorers

D. Queiroz de Oliveira 6 goals

M. Morishige 3 goals

A. dos Santos da Silva 3 goals

Tokyo missing players

Gamba Osaka missing players