Two closely-matched sides will face off when Gamba Osaka welcome Vissel Kobe to Panasonic Stadium Suita for Saturday's J1 League contest.
After collecting 34 points from 18 matches, the hosts enter the weekend in third position, while their opponents are just one point adrift in fourth place.
Match preview
Having finished in the bottom half of the table in each of their last three seasons, Gamba Osaka will be overjoyed to be sitting in third place and just four points adrift of leaders Machida Zelvia.
Dani Poyatos's side will carry significant momentum into Saturday's contest after winning six and drawing one of their last seven league matches since suffering their most recent defeat to Avispa Fukuoka in May.
They have also recorded four consecutive victories, including a narrow 2-1 win in last Sunday's home meeting with Kashiwa Reysol following first-half efforts from Takashi Usami and Kota Yamada.
Gamba Osaka's success this season has been built upon a solid backline which has conceded just 13 league goals, leaving them with the joint-best defensive record alongside Saturday's opponents.
They will be looking to produce another strong defensive display as they go in search of their first win over Vissel Kobe since May 2022.
Vissel Kobe are looking to win back-to-back championships after winning their first-ever J1 League title last season.
Their title defence recently hit a stumbling block as they lost back-to-back games against Kashima Antlers and Tokyo Verdy, before they had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their away fixture with Urawa Reds.
After going three games without a win, Vissel Kobe would have been relieved to return to winning ways in their most recent outing against Kawasaki Frontale, with Yoshinori Muto scoring the decisive goal in the 1-0 victory.
Buoyed from recording a narrow home win, Takayuki Yoshida's side will now head on their travels, and they will certainly fancy their chances of claiming a positive result after winning six, drawing two and losing one of their nine away league games this season.
The visitors can also take confidence from the fact that they have won each of their previous three games against Gamba Osaka, including a narrow 1-0 victory in their most recent meeting in December.
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Team News
Yamada could start a second straight league game after scoring in Gamba Osaka's win over Kashiwa last weekend.
If the 24-year-old keeps his place then Poyatos is likely to name an unchanged lineup for Saturday's home contest.
Usami will continue to offer one of the home side's main goal threats, having scored seven times in 18 league matches this season, including three goals in his last two outings.
As for the visitors, they will have to assess Thuler after the Brazilian defender was forced off in the second half against Kawasaki.
Yuki Honda is likely to earn his eighth league start of the season if Thuler fails to prove his fitness in time for Saturday's fixture.
Taisei Miyashiro could return to the starting lineup after dropping down to the bench for the last two league matches.
Gamba Osaka possible starting lineup:
Ichimori; Handa, Nakatani, Fukuoka, Kurokawa; Dawhan, Suzuki; Yamashita, Yamada, Welton; Usami
Vissel Kobe possible starting lineup:
Maekwa; Sakai, Yamakawa, Honda, Hatsuse; Yamaguchi, Ogihara, Miyashiro; Muto, Sasaki, Osako
We say: Gamba Osaka 1-1 Vissel Kobe
Gamba Osaka will be full of confidence after winning their last four matches, but we think that they will have to settle for a share of the spoils when they face a Vissel Kobe side that has lost just one of their nine away league games this season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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