Bordeaux vs Gent Predictions

Bordeaux were right up against it in the first leg as the Belgians had 60% of the possession but they battled hard and have brought the tie back to France with a great chance of them progressing, despite the rocky season they’ve had already.

The Girondins went into this season with a lot of optimism as manager Gus Poyet had the team running smoothly but after he exploded in a post-match conference over the sale of Gaetan Laborde, calling the club a “disgrace” for selling the striker before allowing him to find a replacement, the club sacked the Uruguayan, much to the disgust of fans and players alike, the latter refusing to train the day after Poyet was dismissed.

The search for their new manager goes on but the team is currently being run by long-term fitness coach Eric Bedouet. The Frenchman has been a stalwart at the club for 20 years and this is his second stint in charge of the team, but with his vast experience of playing and being around the football club, president Stephane Martin has trusted him with the leadership of the club until a permanent replacement has been found.

And he hasn’t done so bad so far. The team lost their first match under his tutelage only two days after Poyet had been sacked and the tiring effect was evident as his players were laboured in their efforts to win, clearly putting a message to the board of their opinions on the matter. In their second and third games, however, they managed to band together for the good of the team, the fans and Eric Bedouet, who has given his all for Bordeaux over the last 20 years. They drew 0-0 last week in the first leg of this Play-Off round, doing well to keep a buoyant Gent side at bay. The Girondins then had the extremely tricky task of hosting a Monaco side vying for the title.

Despite the quality of opposition, Bordeaux looked fantastic all over the pitch, with Francois Kamano leading the three-pronged attack and getting two goals on the night. They now face the second leg of their Europa League Play-Off round but if they can match their performance levels of last week and maybe add a goal or two, they can be confident of progressing to the competition’s group stage, which would be a great testament to the work of Gus Poyet, who put his job on the line to get them there.

Gent finished last season pretty poorly with only two wins in their last eight games as they slumped to a disappointing fourth place finish. They have come into his campaign with a vengeance though as they have only lost one of their eight competitive matches so far this season, scoring 16 along the way. Many teams have started this season successfully, so they only sit 6th in the Belgian First Division but they have impressed domestically and with a great job of getting past Jagiellonia in the last round, the Belgians will still feel confident going into this match.

However, they really failed to take advantage of the home fixture and the 60% ball possession and this could be something that comes back to bite them in this competition. Their performance at the weekend wasn’t outstanding either as they needed two late goals to get past last season’s 13th placed side Lokeren. Gent are still to keep a clean sheet in the league having played five games and we think that this motivated Bordeaux side could take real advantage of that.

Bordeaux have been really encouraging either side of the Poyet sacking, with them winning all of their Europa League qualifiers under the Uruguayan and are essentially unbeaten under Bedouet, apart from a loss to Toulouse when the managerial wound was still raw and exposed. Apart from the Toulouse game, they have only lost one of their last 13 matches and this is a real testament to the fantastic squad that Poyet has created. There is experience and juvenescence all over the pitch and this will be a glorious team for the new manager, whoever it may be, to take over. The games following a managerial change are sometimes hard to predict but the togetherness of this band of players has been evident over the last two weeks and we’re backing them to come out victorious in this one against a Gent side who have conceded in all but one of their competitive games this season. They couldn’t finish their dinner against Bordeaux at home and the French won’t make that mistake, so we’re backing them to win 2-1. Gent have scored 16 in their last eight matches and got 32 in pre-season, so we expect they’ll get at least one in this.