Our prediction for this Belgium Pro League match:
Gent will be looking to retain top position in the Conference League group when they welcome Mechelen to their Planet Group Arena on Saturday evening. Gent are determined to represent Belgium in European competitions next term and they are likely to fight tooth and nail against Besnik Hasi’s troops. Both Paul Nardi and Andrew Hjulsager are major doubts and the duo will be assessed ahead of the kick-off.
Mechelen, on the other hand, have been having their ups and downs of late, with the team beating both Leuven and Westerlo, while losing to Leuven and St. Truiden. As De Kakkers are likely to stick to their attacking style of play, we believe that there is a big value in betting on over 2.5 goals. In their last meeting in the Belgian top flight Mechelen defeated Gent 2-1. Defender Toon Raemaekers misses out with injury, while both Bill Antonio and Rafik Belghali are major doubts.
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 (Gent):
Gent are a Belgian football club that plays their home games at Ghelamco Arena. The venue has been the club’s home ground since 2013 and the capacity of the stadium is 20 000. De Buffalo’s participate in the Belgian Pro League and they clinched their first domestic trophy in the 2014/2015 season.
Gent finished the regular part of the season in second place in the standings, but they eventually climbed to the top position in the table in the play-off. The club won their third Belgian Cup trophy in 2010 and it has to be noted that they defeated Club Brugge in the Belgian Super Cup in 2015. Laurent Depoitre scored the winner for Gent three minutes before the final whistle.
A number of top-class players were part of the team in the past and the likes of Victor Fernandez, Johan Boskamp, Bob Peeters, Trond Sollied and Michel Preud’homme are some of notable footballers who played for Gent in the past.