Gamba played against Niigata on their home turf, and although they managed to turn the game around with two goals from JEBALI, who has been in good form this season, they ended up with a disappointing draw. "We made a lot of simple mistakes, we weren't able to finish off the final minutes, and we need to improve the quality and quantity of our defense," said Usami, who saved Gamba from defeat by scoring a valuable penalty kick at the last minute of the Niigata match, speaking of the team's issues.

Gamba is currently in 11th place, but only three points behind second-placed Machida. It's a close contest at the start of the season, but of course they're aiming for a win at home, where they're currently on a winning streak.
Last season they had one draw and one loss. However, the players have not forgotten the disappointment of suffering a bitter come-from-behind defeat in a home match in July last year, when they had a chance to rise to the top of the table for the first time in seven seasons. "Since that game, we've made it difficult to compete for the championship. The whole team felt that disappointment, so we want to turn that into a good result this time," Nakatani said, expressing the team's feelings with force.

What Gamba needs now to regain their winning momentum and pursue the top spot is a stable defense. They are currently conceding 13 goals, tied for second worst in the league, but "we want the whole team to tighten up. When we can defend together, it leads to good attacks and we have a good rhythm. I feel like we can't take it easy" (Ichimori). Of the three games they have won this season, two have been clean sheets. It is true that they have more chances to score, but first they want to persevere and break open the goal defended by Tani.

What will be needed in the match against Machida is a unified awareness and compactness among the players on the pitch.
"Machida will hit the ball to the front line and pick up the second ball" (Poyatos Head Coach). No matter how Machida challenges, what is essential for Gamba is not to lose the ball and to take care of the second ball.

On the other hand, Machida was far from winning right after the start of the season, but they have been improving with three wins and one draw in the last four games, and are currently in second place. Their competitive style of football is still alive and well this season. Their style of distributing long balls to Oh Sehun at the front and getting the second row attackers involved is still alive and well. In particular, former Japan national team player Nishimura, who recently joined the team, has scored the most goals for the team with three goals, and Soma has also provided three assists, so they are a force to be reckoned with, but this season Machida will also use a style of play that moves the ball from the back line depending on the style of the opponent. Head Coach Poyatos also expressed his caution, saying, "This year Machida is using a three-back formation and has added talented players to the front line."

However, Gamba is not inferior in terms of the quality of their front line. Although they have some issues with their defense, their current strength is that they can create many scoring opportunities.
"Machida will try to get in from the front. How do we break through that first line?" (Head Coach Poyatos). Without focusing on building up, they will simply make use of JEBALI's hold to break through Machida's final line.
The match against Machida is sure to be a fierce local battle on both the offensive and defensive sides. Gamba will fight flexibly and go for the win together with their supporters.