Mechelen vs Gent Preview & Prediction | 2023-24 Belgian Pro League
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THE FACTS
When is Mechelen vs Gent on and what time does it start? Mechelen vs Gent will take place on Sunday 6th August, 2023 – 15:00 (UK)
Where can I get tickets for Mechelen vs Gent? Visit each team’s official website for the latest ticket information
Where can I watch Mechelen vs Gent in the UK? Mechelen vs Gent will not be televised live and cannot be streamed in the UK
THE LOWDOWN
MECHELEN
Mechelen come into this on the back of an impressive point on the opening day of the 2023/24 Belgian Jupiler Pro League season as they shared a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge. The hosts took a first-half lead in that match before being penned back. They did, though, have the advantage of Club Brugge being down to ten men for around 15 minutes at the end of the game. Steven Defour’s Geel-rood are expected will be expecting to battle against relegation after finishing in the bottom-half of the table and the league has now been reduced from 18 to 16 teams.
GENT
Under the management of Hein Vanhaezebrouck, Gent come into this on the back of a 5-2 hammering of MSK Zilina in their most recent outing in the second-leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round tie, completing a 10-3 aggregate victory. Those two legs sandwiched a fun and exciting 3-2 defeat of Kortrijk on the opening day of the Belgian top-flight campaign. Gent fell behind early on in that match before their impressive strike force of Hugo Cuypers and Gift Orban eventually put them ahead.
THE PREDICTED LINE-UPS
MECHELEN
After an impressive performance last week at Club Brugge, Mechelen will try and keep the same eleven together but Boli Bolingoli has suffered a hamstring injury so will be missing.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Coucke; Foulon, Vanlerberghe, Lavalee, Bates; Mukau, Schoofs; Ngoy, Mrabti, Storm; Lauberbach
UNAVAILABLE: Bolingoli (Injury)
QUESTIONABLE:
GENT
Hein Vanhaezebrouck does have to balance Gent’s upcoming UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round tie against Pogon Szczecin but, despite Laurent Depoitre, Gent are expected to go into this unchanged from last week.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Nardi; Samoise, Watanabe, Torunariga, Castro-Montes; Hong, Kums, De Sart; Cuypers, Orban, Hjulsager
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE: Depoitre (Injury)
THE PREDICTION
Mechelen will be expecting to battle against relegation this season with Steven Defour, who took charge in October 2022, improving the team but still looking inconsistent for much of the campaign. Despite Gent’s European exploits offering a potential distraction, the visitors remain the firm favourites for this one against inferior opposition. It could well be an entertaining encounter with Gent showing themselves to be relatively week defensively.
TIP: GENT TO WIN & BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
