Qarabag vs Gent prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2023-02-15 17:45.
Itās back to two-legged knockout football for defending Azerbaijani champions QarabaÄ, who started their European journey for 2022/23 in such a manner. Their 1-2 aggregate loss to Viktoria PlzeÅ in the playoff preliminary round of the current UEFA Champions League (UCL) sent them to the group stage of the Europa League (UEL), where their third-place finish now has them in a two-legged shootout with Belgiumās Gent to join the third-tier Europa Conference Leagueās (UECL) Round of 16.
This tie may have come at an inopportune time though after back-to-back league draws reduced their lead at the top of the Azerbaijan Premier League to five points, particularly as long-time manager Qurban Qurbanov hopes to go one better than last seasonās play-off exit when they were humbled twice by Marseille, losing 6-1 on aggregate. Theyāll certainly be wanting to make better use of home comforts then, as the away leg will be the longest away trip in their history.
Gent are at this stage due to a second-place finish in Group F of the UECL (W2, D2, L2), despite five starts as favourites, underlining just how disappointing their campaign has been. Furthermore, it is one step back from their Group B domination in 2021/22, prior to being defeated twice by Greeceās PAOK in that Round of 16.
So overcoming QarabaÄ will merely be enough to match last seasonās efforts in terms of how far they progress, and it appears theyāre going to have to depend on a strong home performance to get there: Gent are now six consecutive UEFA away games without a victory (D2, L4).
Players to watch: QarabaÄ forward Musa Qurbanly, son of manager Qurbanov, is in career-best form after scoring in each of his last five league games, opening the scoring in all four played this calendar year. Fellow 20-year-old and new Gent recruit Gift Orban picked up where he left off at his previous club in Norway, with a double on his Gent debut taking his tally to nine goals from his last nine competitive fixtures.
Hot stat: All but one of Gentās last nine competitive away games that saw a winner also included a multiple-goal margin.