Wolfsburg vs Gent Predictions

Wolfsburg will be looking to atone for a couple of poor domestic efforts when hosting Gent in the Europa League on Thursday evening. The visitors go in search of the win that would send them top of Group I.

It’s been a tough few weeks for Wolfsburg, who come into this match without a win in five domestic games, though that shouldn’t bother them too much, as they’re currently top of the group in this competition.

From a performance point of view, Wolfsburg have acquitted themselves well in Europe this term. Their win at this venue on match-day one was a convincing one, as they notched three on route to beating Ukrainian side Oleksandria, while they delivered some efforts when drawing away against both St Etienne and Thursday’s opponents.

When the pair met a fortnight ago, they drew 2-2, though it was the visitors who impressed. Despite playing away from home, Oliver Glasner’s men created the better chances and were the more threatening side. That said, their last line of resistance looked weak as they conceded twice. Conceding goals has been a bit of an issue for Wolfsburg, who’re yet to keep a clean sheet in Group I. Even when they’ve restricted teams to few chances, they’ve been unable to record shutouts.

Fortunately for the hosts, Gent have also struggled to keep teams at bay. They too are without a clean sheet in this group, while they’ve conceded one more goal than Thursday’s hosts.

In their only previous away match in Group I, Gent earned a 1-1 draw in Ukraine, which is not an easy place to go. However, despite taking an equal share of the spoils, the Belgians looked very weak at the back, while they certainly weren’t at their best going forward. It is safe to say that their attacking effort on the road, where they registered just two shots on target, was weaker than their two home efforts.

Based on what we’ve seen from this pair in Group I, the bet that catches the eye is ‘Wolfsburg to Win & Over 1.5 Goals’. The Germans were the better side in the reverse fixture, while Gent’s worst effort in the group came on the road. What’s more, if we combine the fact that Wolfsburg, who deservedly scored twice in Belgium, have looked useful going forward with the fact that Gent, who were fortunate not to concede twice in Ukraine and offered little resistance in the reverse of this fixture, have struggled at the back, then the hosts to score twice on route to victory starts to appeal.