Our prediction for this Belgium Pro League match:
Stade Maurice Dufrasne will host Saturday’s football game between Standard Liege and Gent. The Red Devils are five points behind Conference League Group leaders Oostende, meaning that this has to go down as a must-win for the home team. Standard, though, experienced all sorts of problems at the back in the 6-2 loss to Oostende, which is the main reason why home win should not be considered. It has to be noted that Morocco international Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez will have to serve his ban against Gent.
The visitors, on the other hand, have been scoring goals for fun of late, with the team rolling over Charleroi (4-0) and Waregem (7-2), while sharing the spoils with Mechelen (2-2). Considering that Standard Liege struggle at the back, we believe that punters can find value in betting on over 2.5 goals. The likes of Fortuna, Niangbo, and Chakvetadze are all likely to miss the match with injuries for the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Mehdi Carcela-González):
Despite being born in Liege, Belgium on July 1, 1989, Mehdi Carcela represents Morocco on the international stage. Carcela initially chose to play for his country of birth Belgium, taking part in two friendlies with the Red Devils, but in February 2011 he made his debut with Morocco.
He represented Morocco at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia, but the African side failed to make it to the knockout stages of the showpiece tournament. Speaking of his club career, Mehdi Carcela played for the likes of Standard Liege, Anzhi, Benfica, Granada and Olympiakos (on loan). He currently plays for Standard Liege on loan from Granada.
Mehdi Carcela’s main position is right winger, but he is capable of playing as both attacking midfielder and left winger as well. In the 2008/2009 season the Morocco international won the Belgian Pro League with Standard and seven seasons later he repeated the success with Benfica as the Eagles won Primeira Liga. His preferred foot is left.
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.