Sagan Tosu vs Gamba Osaka 07/10/20

07 October 2020

Sagan Tosu and Gamba Osaka will face off against each other at the Ekimae Real Estate Stadium in contrasting circumstances.

The hosts have picked up just one win from their last six J1 League fixtures (W1, D1, L4), with each of those five results (win/losses) seeing the winner on the day score over 1.5 goals. At home, none of Tosu’s previous five league matches has ended in a draw (W3, L2), with four of those results yielding a full-time margin greater than one goal. Kim Myung-hwi’s men have a legitimate right to hope for a positive outcome here, as they’ve won all but one of their seven top-flight H2H clashes held at this venue (W6, L1), four via at least a two-goal margin. Slow starts could, however, represent a major setback for Sagan Tosu here, considering they’ve shipped the opening goal (if any) in five of nine J1 League home games this term.

Meanwhile, the visitors have overseen an upturn in form lately, going from back-to-back J1 League defeats to four consecutive triumphs. Yet, the majority (66.67%) of those six matches have yielded a narrow one-goal margin, with the deciding goal in three of them coming no earlier than the 75-minute mark. Curiously, quick-fire Gamba have found the opening goal in seven of nine league trips this season (77.78%), avoiding defeat in each such fixture (W5, D2). High scoring has been a theme for Tsuneyasu Miyamoto’s side on the road recently, as three of their previous four away league games have featured over 2.5 goals.