Last season's J1 League runners-up Gamba Osaka (0-1-2, 2 points) will be looking to earn their first win of the 2016 AFC Champions League group stage competitions as they host Chinese Super League counterparts Shanghai SIPG FC (2-1-0, 6 points) at the Suita City Football Stadium in Osaka on April 6th, Wednesday.

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SIPG, who is currently at the top spot of the Group G standings, beat Gamba, 2-1, in their first meeting on March 15th at the Shanghai Stadium, as reported by the Shanghai Daily.

Former Guangzhou Evergrande striker Elkeson fired a brace at the 41st and 62nd minutes to lead head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson's boys past the Japanese giants right at their home field, via Soccerway.

The Brazilian striker was acquired by the Red Eagles during the recent winter transfer window from Guangzhou for a reported fee of €18.5 million as the Southern China Tigers welcome the addition of former Atletico Madrid scorer Jackson Martinez.

"We played very well and the team held a good spirit," Eriksson told reporters during the post-match interview. "They (the players) defended well and kept positions fantastically."

As for Elkeson's performance, the 68-year-old Swedish manager was simply all praises, saying "what more can you ask for from a striker" as the Brazilian was named player of the match.

Shanghai will try to duplicate the same dominating performance in their second meeting with Osaka on the road this week to hold firm their leadership in Group G.

Gamba has settled at the third spot in the group table, three points behind A-League squad Melbourne Victory. Manager Kenta Hasegawa's team needs to win as many games as possible in the last three matchdays if they want to advance in the knockout round of the said Asian club tournament.

The predicted result is another 2-1 victory for Shanghai SIPG.

Gamba Osaka starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Higashiguchi; Fujiharu, Kim, Konno, Oh; Omori, Endo, Ideguchi, Abe; Usami, Patric

Shanghai SIPG starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Yan; Sun, Shi, Kim, Fu; Yu, Cai, Conca, Wu; Gyan, Elkeson

TagsChina Football, China football 2016, AFC Champions League, 2016 AFC Champions League, AFC Champions League 2016, Gamba Osaka, Shanghai SIPG FC