On Tuesday night, J-League strugglers Gamba Osaka and Oita Trinita meet at the Nishigaoka National Stadium, as both teams look to move away from the bottom of the Japanese top-flight table.
Gamba Osaka will be looking to improve their poor recent fortunes, as the home side currently reside 17th in the J-League table. Masanobu Matsunami’s team currently occupy the last relegation berth and are three points from safety.
However, their position may well be a slightly false one considering that they have four games in hand on the two teams directly above them in the table.
The fact that they head into this clash on the back of two straight defeats against Vissel Kobe and Kashima Antlers has not helped their position in the table though.
Gamba Osaka’s home record is also poor, as they have won just two of their last 12 matches on home soil in the J-League while losing five of their last seven home games.
Oita Trinita are currently in 19th place in the table a point worse off than their opponents, having played three more J-League matches. A record of 16 points earned from their 21 league games is a poor one for sure.
Despite their struggles in the league so far, the visitors head into this clash on the back of a 1-0 home win against Urawa Reds, which ended a four-game winless run for the visitors, consisting of three defeats and a draw.
The team from Oita have been involved in several low-scoring encounters of late, as four of their last five matches have produced under 2.5 goals.
The visitors have been woeful on their travels of late in the J-League, as they have suffered nine straight away defeats while failing to score in seven of the losses.
Therefore, we should see over 2.5 goals in this match, with Gamba Osaka scoring the bulk of them and taking 3 points.