Gent vs Waasland-Beveren Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

It’s not been an easy opening for Waasland who’re not known as the sturdiest team in Belgium, though after draws against both Waregem and Liege, they’ve avoided defeat thus far. With those pleasing results in the bag, Yannick Ferrera’s men will be hoping to maintain their unbeaten run when they visit Ghelamco Arena on Sunday evening.

It’s been a very mixed start to the new campaign for Gent, who’ve so far accumulated just a single point in the league. They lost 3-2 away at Liege on the opening night, even though their performance merited a share of the spoils, though there was nothing unlucky about their draw against Zulte last weekend. In fact, Gent could count themselves lucky after they drew level in the last minute of stoppage time. On that occasion, Yves Vanderhaeghe’s men looked somewhat exposed at the back, and a team with more end-product than Zulte would’ve finished them off.

After that rather poor draw on home soil last weekend, Sunday’s hosts picked themselves up to win away from home in the Europa League, though their antics in Poland may have a negative effect on their performance here. Then again, having regained their confidence, their Europa League victory could spur them on.

On the face of it, Gent have a potentially tricky fixture here; their opponents are so far unbeaten, though if we look beyond the results, it’s easy to see that they’ve been very lucky. On that basis, the hosts ought to come into this match feeling upbeat about their chances.

As touched on above, people shouldn’t be fooled by the fact that Waasland are thus far unbeaten. Sunday’s visitors didn’t play well when they snatched a draw away at Zulte on the opening day, while they didn’t exactly play well against Liege last Friday. Both of those matches highlighted clear defensive deficiencies, and it’s probably fair to say that had either Zulte or Liege had their shooting boots on, Waasland would’ve walked off the pitch empty handed on both occasions.

The counter-attack did provide Yannick Ferrera’s men with a viable route to goal against Liege last week, though they could not make that route pay. Gent may not be so cavalier with their approach, so there is unlikely to be as much space for Waasland to break into, though if opportunities on the counter arise once again, Sunday’s visitors need to be far more clinical.

At the end of the day, from a quality point of view, Gent are by far the better team; they’re tougher to score against, while they offer lot more in terms of final-third quality. As a result, it’s tough to go against Vanderhaeghe’s side, who made a habit of keeping thing tight at the back on their own patch last season. If the hosts can remain disciplined at the back, then fashioning openings at the other end shouldn’t be too difficult against a team who’re easy to pick apart.

They may not have scaled the heights in terms of scoring goals this season, though this match against a team who conceded at least three goals against three of the top six on the road last season, as well as at least two in each of their six away matches against such teams, provides the hosts with an excellent opportunity to hit their stride. ‘Gent to Score Over 2.5 Goals’ gets the nod.