Westerlo vs Gent Preview & Prediction | 2023-24 Belgian Pro League
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THE FACTS
When is Westerlo vs Gent on and what time does it start? Westerlo vs Gent will take place on Sunday 13th August, 2023 – 18:15 (UK)
Where can I get tickets for Westerlo vs Gent? Visit each team’s official website for the latest ticket information
Where can I watch Westerlo vs Gent in the UK? Westerlo vs Gent will not be televised live and cannot be streamed in the UK
THE LOWDOWN
WESTERLO
Westerlo were only promoted to the Belgian top-flight in 2022 but they managed an impressive return to the Jupiler Pro League by finishing in the top eight and qualifying for the end of season UEFA Europa Conference League playoffs. They did it in an exceptionally entertaining manner, too, despite the mid-season loss of Lyle Foster to Burnley, with 114 goals coming in their 34 matches during the regular season.
That entertaining and high-scoring theme continued into the opening day of this campaign when they shared a 2-2 draw with Eupen a couple of weeks ago. What will irritate them, though, is a 1-0 loss at home to a Club Brugge side who, under the management of Ronny Deila, do look to be very impressive so far this season, both domestically and in European competition.
GENT
Under the management of Hein Vanhaezebrouck, Gent come into this on the back of a 5-0 thrashing of Polish Ekstraklasa side Pogon Szczecin in the first-leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round tie in their most recent outing, during the week. The visitors have been in exceptional form throughout the start of this season in both the aforementioned UECL and the Belgian Jupiler Pro League.
The visitors, despite rumours of a potential sale of Gift Orban, thrashed MSK Zilina by ten goals to two on aggregate in the previous round of the UEFA Europa Conference League and have started with back-to-back victories in the league, albeit against likely strugglers Kortrijk and Mechelen. Their five matches so far this season in all competitions have consisted of 24 goals with Gent notching 19 of those.
THE PREDICTED LINE-UPS
WESTERLO
Barcelona-born Jonas De Roeck, who has been in charge of Westerlo since 2021, prefers a 4-4-2 system, probably hence their high-scoring tendencies, and with a fully fit and available squad, they are likely to be unchanged; despite their defeat last weekend.
PREDICTED XI (4-4-2): Bolat; Reynolds, Neustadter, Tagir, Bos; Matsuo, Madsen, Fixelles, Van den Keybus; Frigan, Daci
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
GENT
Hein Vanhaezebrouck, much like Club Brugge, is blessed with being able to rotate his squad for the second-leg of their tie against Pogon, having pretty much wrapped up the tie. That means he can name his strongest side for this match, albeit with Laurent Depoitre still a doubt due to injury.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Nardi; Samoise, Watanabe, Torunarighe, Castro-Montes; Hong, Kums, De Sart; Cuypers, Orban, Hjulsager
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE: Depoitre (Injured)
THE PREDICTION
Winless after two matches, Westerlo will seek to get after their opposition and try to return to their high-scoring ways which they failed to do last week against other tough opposition in Club Brugge. Gent, on the other hand, will be pleased to be able to try and pick off the home team on the counter attack with Gift Orban and Hugo Cuypers both in exceptional form. Westerlo have been generally high-scoring in the recent past, whilst Gent are currently thrilling to watch, so this should be a very entertaining encounter.
TIP: OVER 2.5 GOALS
