Gamba Osaka vs Yokohama F. Marinos 6 August 2021 Preview

Gamba Osaka vs Yokohama F. Marinos
2021 J1 Season Round 6
Friday 6 August 2021
Panasonic Stadium Suita
Kick Off: 19:00 (JST)

There’s more Friday night J1 action this week as upwardly mobile Gamba Osaka face one of their biggest tests of the season, a visit from Kanagawa giants Yokohama F. Marinos. The Nerazzurri come into this encounter on the back of a 3 game winning streak, their best run of the year by far. The third victory in that trio came courtesy of a scrappy win away to Sendai on Wednesday. Patric headed his 5th goal of the league campaign from a Yuki Yamamoto corner in the first half and as happened so often in 2020, they put up the shutters and won ugly. The 3 points gained in Miyagi crucially moved Gamba 6 clear of the drop zone with Friday’s fixture still in hand. Incredibly, a win over Marinos would put the men in blue and black within 6 points of the scrap for 6th between, Kashima (6th), Urawa (7th) and FC Tokyo (8th), with all those sides having 35 points from 22 games (this in turn would probably end any hopes supporters like me had of signing Antlers or Grampus full-backs on loan.)

Let’s not forget that this is a vital game for Marinos too. The Tricolor take to the field for the first time in 27 days needing 3 points to close the gap on fierce rivals Kawasaki at the top of the division. There have been a number of personnel changes, which I’ll outline below in the team news section, that could hinder Marinos or alternatively push them onto greater heights. But, one thing stands true, they are 12 points off the J1 summit with 2 games in hand, so earning the 3 points here is non-negotiable for new boss Kevin Muscat and his troops.

Fans of Akira Nishino-era Gamba and followers of Ange Postecoglou sides may be surprised to know that these are actually 2 of the strongest defensive outfits in the league, conceding a mere 34 times in 41 combined games, though as we know the Marinos attack has generally been on a different level to Gamba’s in the first half of 2021. You could make an argument that on this season’s form, YFM are a cut above their Friday hosts, and you’d probably be right. However, when making a prediction for this clash, one should also take into account the time it takes Postecoglou sides (I know he’s not there any more, but at the moment it’s still his team in all but name) a while to get properly calibrated, see relatively poor starts to the year in each of his 4 seasons in charge for evidence. As such with Gamba in the full swing of their summer ‘chaos energy JLeague’ schedule and their visitors coming off a lengthy break, if the Nerazzurri are to upset their much vaunted opponents then Friday 6 August is likely to be that night.

Just a quick reminder that I joined Ben and Sam on the J Talk Podcast this week (Episode 388) to discuss Gamba, the Olympics and the second half of the J1 season, please check it out, it’s available on all the major podcast applications. Thanks.

Tale of the Tape

As seen below, Marinos are a side who create and take many chances, but will also present opponents with the opportunity to strike back. This ties in with my point about calibrating their team quickly, as at times this season their high press has been breathtaking and has simply overwhelmed their foes, but if they get things slightly wrong then Gamba need to be ready and willing to pounce on the counter attack. The Nerazzurri also have to be prepared to match the high work-rate and intensity on show from their Kanagawa visitors, even if the temperature will be around the 30 degree mark at kick off. There will be long spells of Marinos possession and pressure for sure, and during those periods Gamba must do their best to conserve energy when they can, coiling themselves, ready to strike when YFM try an overambitious pass or commit too many players to an attack, admittedly this is much easier said (or typed) than done.





Head to Head

Gamba stunned, then reigning champions, Marinos at Nissan Stadium on the opening day of the 2020 season, winning 2-1 in the only league match played under ‘normal’ pre-Covid conditions last year. YFM put in an extremely poor first half display while Nerazzurri kantoku Tsuneyasu Miyamoto got his tactics spot on. South Korean duo Kim Young-gwon and Oh Jae-suk had colossal games at the back while the team’s high press forced multiple errors from Marinos defenders which had Ange Postecoglou nearly tearing his hair out. Shu Kurata opened the scoring, before VAR got an early outing, allowing Shinya Yajima’s strike from Kurata’s cut-back to send Gamba into the sheds with a 2-goal cushion. Inevitably they didn’t have things all their own way and a strong Marinos fightback in the second stanza was rewarded with Marcos Junior’s fine turn and shot in off the underside of the bar from the edge of the box, but that was their lot and Gamba held on for the 3 points.

Later in the year, drained by their exhausting pre-ACL schedule, Marinos limped into Suita and were lucky to leave with a 1-1 draw. Despite taking the lead through an unfortunate Kim Young-gwon own goal, YFM found themselves on the back foot for long periods, but Gamba were unable to add to Takashi Usami’s penalty in first-half stoppage time and had to settle for a share of the spoils in a match which ended their run of 6 consecutive league victories.



Gamba Osaka

Just when I think I’ve got a hang on Matsunami’s rotation system, he goes and mixes things up again, so take the rather attacking lineup below with a slight pinch of salt. Personally, I’m really looking forward to the fixture list settling down later in the season so we can see the front 3 of Usami, Wellington Silva and Leandro Pereira, backed by Patric from the bench, really start to click, hopefully Friday will be a glimpse of what’s to come. At the back, it seems like each centre-back essentially plays 3 times and then sits 1 match out, which by my reckoning means Kim Young-gwon is due a spot on the pine here. I wonder if handing Yanagisawa a first J1 start against Marinos is akin to throwing him to the wolves, but the alternatives are, an exhausted Onose, who we really can’t afford to lose to injury and Okuno, who has looked a bit like a fish out of water at times when played there.

Team News
Leandro Pereira wasn’t in the matchday squad for the trip to Sendai, but I haven’t heard of any injury issues, so it’s possible he was just given a night off to allow compatriot Tiago Alves an opportunity to put himself in the shop window. Ryu Takao has undergone a scan on his injured ankle and the results are not yet known, however, the club are confident he won’t require surgery. Midfield maestro Yosuke Ideguchi and young defender Yota Sato haven’t been seen on the field or the bench since Gamba returned from the ACL group stage in Uzbekistan, the reasons for their absence are still unclear. Elsewhere, we’re no closer to knowing when Hiroki Fujiharu, Yuya Fukuda, Yuji Ono and Dai Tsukamoto will return from their leg muscle injuries. As mentioned previously, reserve goalie Jun Ichimori and young wing-backs Haruto Shirai and Shin Won-ho are long term casualties.

Predicted Lineups and Stats




Yokohama F. Marinos

As alluded to above, there have been a series of personnel changes for Marinos during the summer break, not least of which was the announcement that Kevin Muscat would replace compatriot Ange Postecoglou in the dugout. The Australian has now completed his mandatory 14-day quarantine and will be on the bench for the first time on Friday. Ado Onaiwu (12 goals in 20 J1 appearances) has left for Toulouse in the French second tier and the club rather surprisingly decided his replacement would be former Cerezo and Kawasaki striker Kenyu Sugimoto on loan from Urawa, despite him only managing 6 league goals in 70 games for Reds across two and a half years in Saitama. Another slightly puzzling move was repatriating highly talented, but injury prone winger Ryo Miyaichi from St. Pauli in Germany, while left-back Ryotaro Tsunoda’s transfer from the University of Tsukuba was brought forward by half a season. Headed for the exit door are, full-back Ryo Takano, someone I thought Gamba should have taken a look at, he has joined promotion chasing Iwata in J2 instead, backup centre-half Makito Ito who, like Takano, will make Júbilo his home for the rest of 2021 and up-and-comer Ryonosuke Kabayama, a player that arrived at Marinos from Kokoku High School in Osaka this year, and has moved to Peter Cklamovski’s Montedio Yamagata on a developmental loan deal.

Team News
Gamba will no doubt be relieved that pacy forward Daizen Maeda will be absent on Friday thanks to his involvement in his country’s Bronze Medal match against Mexico in the Tokyo Olympics. Marcos Junior will return from suspension while Shinnosuke Hatanaka, Léo Ceará and Ken Matsubara have missed the previous 1, 2 and 4 games respectively, but I don’t have anything concrete on the reasons behind their absences.

Predicted Lineups and Stats



Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoy the game whoever you are supporting!