Gent vs FK Zorya Luhansk prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-11-29 17:45.
Gent’s near-perfect 2023/24 UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) continued with a hard-fought 3-2 win away to group minnows Breiðablik in which they had to overcome an early 2-1 deficit. As a result, Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s men are one point clear of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv at the summit of Group B heading into this fifth matchday, and with a trip to Serbia to face Maccabi looming next month, they’d ideally like to head there with top spot secured.
They’ve already improved on the eight points they took from the group stage of the previous UECL, with two victories from two home games so far (2-0 v Maccabi and 5-0 v Breiðablik). The Belgians are now nine matches without defeat on their own patch across all UEFA competitions (W7, D2) including qualifiers, having won six of those encounters by at least two goals, leaving them well placed to advance beyond the group phase for a third consecutive UECL.
Zorya Luhansk looked on the brink of something special when following up a massive 1-1 draw against Gent with a win at BreiĂ°ablik, but their entire season has since fallen away completely. They have plummeted into the Ukrainian Premier League automatic relegation spots after three games without a victory (D1, L2), were eliminated from the national cup by fellow bottom-half club Chornomorets Odessa, and have lost back-to-back UECL fixtures!
To play European spring-time football for the first time, Zorya will now not only need to win their remaining two outings, but hope that either Gent or Maccabi lose both of theirs. On the basis of the Ukrainians having never taken more than three points on the road from a single UEFA group-stage campaign – losing ten of 14 such games (W4) – progression appears unlikely.
Players to watch: Gift Orban delivered Gent a decisive hat-trick in their previous UECL contest – his third treble in the competition this calendar year – while Zorya’s Panamanian midfielder Eduardo Guerrero has scored in two UECL appearances this term, including the reverse H2H.
Hot stat: The half-time result was replicated at the full-time whistle in all but one of Zorya Luhansk’s last 15 competitive matches.