Gamba Osaka vs Yokohama FC 05/09/18

05 September 2018

Probably the two most renowned clubs in Japan, Gamba Osaka and Yokohama FC, are destined to face off against each other at the Suita City Football Stadium in the first leg of the YBC Levain Cup quarter-finals.

As the second-most accomplished J. League club, G-Osaka are desperate to lift some domestic trophy this year after a dry period that lasts almost four years. Tsuneyasu Miyamoto’s team are not going through the happiest times of their football, considering they’ve only achieved two victories in the last ten matches, including an encouraging 2-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale last weekend, thus ending a two-game losing streak. Furthermore, that triumph over Kawasaki was the first time that Gamba managed to keep aclean sheet after conceding at least one goal in eleven straight games.

The situation on the other end is anything but different, as Yokohama lost seven out of the previous ten matches, keeping a clean sheet only two times in the process. However, the Fulie have shown significant signs of recovery in the last three games, securing two major victories, including the one against Kashiwa last weekend.

Ryo Hatsuse and the first-choice striker Ui-jo Hwang won’t be available in the home team, while Takahiro Nakazato, Ayumu Tachibana, and Bruno Meneghel won’t feature for the visitors due to injuries.