Gent vs PFC Oleksandria Predictions

• Gent will go through as group winners if they win this match. They would also win the group with a draw or a loss if Wolfsburg fail to beat St. Etienne.
• Oleksandriya are yet to win away from home in Group I. They’ve lost one and drawn one.
• Oleksandriya are yet to win in Group I. They claimed one of their three points when drawing against Gent in the reverse fixture.

1^st place Gent’s to lose

Unbeaten in five, Gent have performed well in this competition, so much so that they look on course to win the group. A win would ensure that the Belgians emerge as group winners, though even a defeat could be enough depending on what Wolfsberg do against St. Etienne.

Without being overly impressive at either end of the pitch, Gent have made themselves very tough to beat on the continent. They’ve only kept one clean sheet, which isn’t that impressive, but they’ve got a fantastic habit of keeping themselves in games and coming up with the goods when it matters most.

At home, Gent have won one and drawn one, scoring five and conceding four. It is the latter of those two numbers that is a problem. There can be no denying Gent’s effectiveness in the final third at Ghelamco Arena, but the fact that they’re shipped four in two is worrying.

Visitors not in contention

As was expected at the start of the competition, Ukrainian side Oleksandriya have come unstuck in Group I. They’ve not won any of their five matches, two of which they’ve lost.

At the back, Thursday’s visitors have most certainly come up short, conceding eight goals and keeping zero clean sheets, but what they have done is avoid getting constantly battered, losing by more than a single goal in just one of their five UEL group games. What they’ve also done is make a habit of getting the odd goal, scoring in four out of five, notching in both of their travelling games. They’ll struggle to get the better of Gent in Belgium, but they can at least make their presence felt.

Hosts to do it the hard way

The performances of both Gent and Oleksandriya in Group I suggest that anything other than a home win on Thursday evening would be a surprise. However, performances also suggest that it may not be straightforward for the hosts, who have a habit of conceding goals. On this basis, ‘Gent to Win & Both Teams to Score’ stands out. The hosts have the firepower to get the better of a visiting side that is without a win, though their defensive issues don’t exactly point towards a clean sheet.