Japan Emperor's Cup Semi Final:
 

Gamba Osaka- Shimizu S-Pulse  (Wednesday "morning" kick off)

 

To be played at the Ajinomoto Sutajiamu in Tokyo.

 

Gamba's fine win in Saitama at the weekend kept their domestic treble hopes alive and put all the title "pressure" back onto Urawa's shoulders. Today they can focus on cup win number two and if they can find a way past Shimizu, a lower level opponent will be waiting in the season ending finale. Beating Urawa will have given an already confident squad a massive boost and I can see no let up here and I doubt they will give the visit from Kobe ot the weekend too much thought until after this match is out of the way. Two sets of recent notes on Gamba , including from the Urawa game are reproduced below and regular readers can be in no doubt how highly I rate them.
 

SSP failed to beat Nagoya at the weekend and still have major relegation concerns, sitting just a point clear of the drop zone and facing a difficult trip to Reysol in a couple of days time. Gamba won both league games by a combined 7-0 , including 3-0 in Shizouka just two months ago and a meeting on neutral ground should hold no fears for the best team in Japan.

 

 

Just before kick off Gamba were trading at sub 1.70 and the opportunity was there to trade out, pre match for a very nice profit, but that is not really what we are about. Notes were brief, but subscribers were also sent the more detailed preview from the weekend win over Urawa, as background information.

 

I also send these "in play" notes......if any of you are betting in running...... Gamba have scored ten goals in their last five league and cup wins, nine of which have come after the break, all nine after the 54th minute. I would rather not have to wait that long, but their passing style does tend to wear teams down the longer games go ,they will not panic if falling behind and can score 2-3 goals quickly.

 

Gamba won the match 5-2 , were trading at circa 2.0 -0.75 at the break, bigger afterwards and again scored two unanswered second half goals.

 

These are previews that give you options and content which repays reading .

 

 

Good Luck.

 

I have had my colours nailed to the Gamba mast for many months and to my mind they are the best team in J-League. My notes from their last league start can be found at the foot of the email, ahead of their Nabisco Cup Final win over Sanfreece Hiroshima, immediately before the break, I added .....

I think I tempted fate last week with my comments about Gamba (see below) when I said that (against FCT) any other team in their position would have looked to close out the game and play for time. Last week, that is exactly what they did , 1-0 up to Vegalta where a win which would have taken them to the top of the table and more importantly, kept the title destiny in their own hands, they spent most of the final 45 minutes looking to kill time, that is not really their style, but it looked to be working well.....you know the rest ! They were passing the ball fluidly, keeping possession, the fans were happy and singing merrily and then, in the 95th minute a high lobbed ball into their box was half cleared and mishit by a Sendai player, it bounced down into the ground and then up, over the head of Masaaki Higashiguch in the Gamba goal, 1-1 and title dreams in tatters if Urawa won at Yokohama the next day, which they did with a late winner of their own. Gamba could still snatch the title, but need to win on the road to Urawa after the break and then hope Reds slip up in one of their last two games, not impossible, but if they had held on against Sendai, things would have been so much simpler, three wins and they would have been champions !

This could effect them two ways, either they can go into this game feeling sorry for themselves or use it as a motivational factor, I am leaning towards the latter, they still have two cups to win and taking the first would set them up for the big match in Saitama and in many ways you could argue that the pressure has been lifted with the easing of talk of a sensational domestic treble. The club also received a boost this week with three players being called up for the national team and the trio will leave immediately after the final.

Gamba won twice away to Hiroshima inside a week in September, winning 3-1 in the Emperor's Cup, despite resting half the team and 1-0 in the league just four days later. These two have been heading in opposite directions since early season, with Gamba averaging 2.35 points per game over their last 20 starts, which is a massive 1.1 per game more than Sanfreece. Over a full season that would equate to Hiroshima finishing 15th last season and Gamba winning the title by 17 points !

This is the best team in J-League, playing what has now become an average one and having beaten Sanfreece twice on the road, a match on neutral ground should hold few fears and with the match taking place in Urawa's stadium, this is a nice dress rehearsal for the league game in two week's time. First of at least two trophies for Gamba.
 

They have one trophy in the bag now and can still claim a famous treble, but need to win today and get some help from elsewhere else to secure the league title, after the slip up against Vegalta, but a chance is a chance and Urawa have no gimme at Sagan next week. The pressure on them is lessened now that they have won something and "blown" the league and they have a good record in Saitama, winning on three of their last six h2h meetings here, including a 5-0 win on their last visit and lost just one in eight. Urawa have had the title (almost) in their grasp for months and can all but seal the deal with a draw and would snatch your hand off for that now if offered. They have been playing below their early season level for some time and have looked very nervous. I love this level ball quote for Gamba, as we are covered (money back) with the result that Reds are looking for and which I believe they will play for. I expect Urawa to be cautious, perhaps too cautious and to hand the initiative to Gamba.