Our prediction for this Europa Conference League match:
Gent
Match Time & Date:
09/03/2023
21:00
Prediction: 1-0
Basaksehir
Gent will be aiming to build on a hard-fought 1-0 win over Anderlecht when they face Basaksehir in the Conference League last 16, first leg. The Belgian outfit continue with their habit of producing much better showings at home than on the travels, and it is no wonder the bookies see them as favourites to beat Basaksehir on home soil. Darko Lemajic and Tarik Tissoudali should be the only absentees in the home team.
The Turkish side, meanwhile, aim to recover from a 1-0 loss to Alanya. Basaksehir are likely to rely on their solid defence, but preventing Gent from scoring at Ghelamco Arena is easier said than done. As for the away team, Serbia forward Danijel Aleksic is pushing for a start, as well as former Manchester United ace Adnan Januzaj, who joined the club in the January transfer window.
Highlighted Player (Sven Kums):
Belgian defender Sven Kums began his youth career at Dilbeek Sport and in 1996 he joined Anderlecht. Despite spending seven years at the club, he did not see any game action with the Belgian giants at senior level. After ending his loan spells with the likes of Lierse and Kortrijk, he signed a permanent deal with de Kerels in 2008.
The 176-cm-tall midfielder, who was born on 26 February, 1988, scored 12 goals in 116 league appearances for Kortrijk and in 2011 he moved to Netherlands, signing a contract with Heerenveen. In 2013 he returned to Belgium, joining Zulte Waregem.
In the summer of 2014 he moved to fellow Belgian outfit Gent and at the end of the 2015/2016 season he signed a loan deal with Udinese. Kums has 12 caps for Belgium U21 and it has to be noted that his father Ludo Kums is working as a coach at Anderlecht. Sven Kums is a centre midfielder, but he plays as both attacking midfielder and defensive midfielder as well.
Highlighted Team (Basaksehir):
Istanbul Basaksehir are one of the youngest clubs in Turkey. Founded in 1990, Istanbul Basaksehir play their home games at Fatih Terim Stadium, the venue that was opened in 2014. The Turkish club club have yet to win the national championship, but they did well to finish the 2016/2017 Super Lig campaign in second place in the standings.
As a result, Istanbul Basaksehir booked their place in the Champions League qualifiers and thanks to a win over Club Brugge in the two-legged tie the capital club set up a meeting with La Liga side Sevilla in the play-offs. Despite producing fine performances in the double-header against the star-studded Spanish side Istanbul Basaksehir eventually failed to make it to the Champions League group stages.
Nonetheless, the club will represent Turkey in the group stages of the Europa League in the 2017/2018 season. It has to be noted that the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Eljero Elia, Emre Belozoglu and Gael Clichy played for Istanbul Basaksehir in the 2017/2018 Champions League qualifiers.
Barcelona
Las Palmas 
Crystal Palace
Newcastle 
Borussia Dortmund 
Bayern Munich 
West Ham
Arsenal
Chelsea 
Aston Villa 
Manchester United 
Everton
