Having seen their three-game winning run come to an end last time out, Gamba Osaka welcome Kyoto Sanga to the Panasonic Stadium on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the visitors set out to complete a league double over their hosts having claimed a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Match preview
Gamba Osaka were denied a fourth win on the bounce in a goalless stalemate against Yokohama FC at Mitsuzawa Stadium on Saturday morning.
Dani Poyatos's men endured a largely frustrating day in front of goal as they failed to muster enough clear-cut opportunities to grab a winner.
Consequently, the Black-and-Blues remain 15th in the J1 League table after 19 games, a whopping six points adrift of a place in the top half.
Up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little to choose between the sides over the last seven meetings which have yielded two wins apiece and three draws.
Off the back of two straight wins on home turf by a combined score of 5-2, Saturday's hosts will be confident of emerging victorious in this one.
Kyoto Sanga had to make do with a point in their encounter against Kashima Antlers, which ended 0-0 at the Kashima Soccer Stadium on Saturday.
Despite being on the back foot for large spells of the game, Cho Kwi-jae's men held firm to come away with a share of the spoils in a drab affair.
Amassing 20 points from 19 league matches so far, Kyoto sit 14th in the standings, level on points with their next opponents heading into this weekend's match.
Unbeaten in three of their most recent four away outings, Sunday's visitors have proven themselves to be a tough nut to crack on the road of late.
Team News
Shu Kurata was absent from Gamba's last outing due to a knock, which is expected to rule him out of contention for Saturday's game as well.
Kyung-Won Kwon made his return to action from a brief injury layoff last time out, but it remains to be seen if the Korean will be handed a starting berth.
Patric has netted found the back of the net four times in his last appearances for Kyoto, making the forward one to keep a close eye on here.
Paulinho Boia is yet to feature for the away side since May due to a long-term injury, and the 25-year-old is still a considerable way off making his comeback.
Gamba Osaka possible starting lineup:
Higashiguchi; Kurokawa, Fukuoka, Miura, Handa; Lavi, Dawhan, Yamamoto; Ishige, Jebali, Alano
Kyoto Sanga possible starting lineup:
Wakahara; Sato, Asada, Inoue, Shirai; Kaneko, Yachida, Hirato; Yamada, Patric, Kimura
We say: Gamba Osaka 2-1 Kyoto Sanga
With both teams neck-and-neck in the standings, Saturday's encounter could easily go either way, and we are expecting an end-to-end game. That said, we fancy the home side to get the job done, albeit by only a narrow margin come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
