Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Belgian Pro League clash between Gent and Sint-Truiden, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Gent head into Saturday’s fixture with Sint-Truiden having already secured top spot in the Belgian Pro League European playoff table.
Meanwhile, Sint-Truiden make the trip to the Ghelamco Arena still with hope of finishing as runners-up in the standings.
Match preview
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Having gone through a period earlier in the season where they had won just one match in nine attempts, Gent could have few complaints with having to participate in the European playoffs.
However, Hein Vanhaezebrouck has found a way to get his team back on track, prevailing in seven of their last nine matches to keep them in contention for continental football.
Gent’s only two defeats have both come against Leuven, the most recent of those occurring on May 12, but they bounced back with a 4-1 victory over Standard Liege last time out.
As a result, Gent will face either Genk or Cercle Brugge in a one-off tie for European qualification on June 2, meaning that Vanhaezebrouck will already have one eye on that fixture.
In the mean time, though, the veteran manager will be calling for his side to retain their focus as they bid to end a mixed campaign on a high.
Sint-Truiden have steadily gone about their business in recent months, only suffering two defeats in their last 10 outings.
Nevertheless, it has not been enough for Thorsten Fink‘s side to come close to challenging for a European spot, instead needing to win this game to have any chance of second.
On a positive note, Sint-Truiden play this encounter on the back of a four-game undefeated streak, edging out Mechelen 2-1 and posting three draws.
The corresponding game in the regular season took place all the way back in August, the teams playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Gent Belgian Pro League form:
Sint-Truiden Belgian Pro League form:
Team News
Gent boss Vanhaezebrouck may take the approach of selecting his strongest side and resting players during the second half.
However, Stefan Mitrovic, Archie Brown and Laurent Depoitre are all in contention to earn recalls to the side, particularly the latter after his two goals as a substitute against Standard Liege.
Fatih Kaya could be handed a starting role for Sint-Truiden having come off the bench to score last time out.
Veteran forward Shinji Okazaki‘s place is at risk, but Fink may be against making any further changes to his side after last week’s hard-earned draw with Leuven.
Gent possible starting lineup:
Schmidt; Kandouss, Mokio, Torunarigha; Hjulsager, Gandelman, Gerkens, Kums, Fortuna; Sonko, Fernandez-Pardo
Sint-Truiden possible starting lineup:
Suzuki; Van Helden, Godeau, Smets; Ananou, Delorge, Fujita, Bocat; Yamamoto, Kaya, Ito
We say: Gent 2-0 Sint-Truiden
With another game to come, it remains to be seen how hard Gent will push in this contest. Nevertheless, we still think that they will do enough to secure maximum points and progress into the final European playoff tie in a positive mood.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.