The 2022-23 Belgian Juplier Pro League season gets underway on Friday night, with Standard Liege and KAA Gent going head-to-head at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne in the curtain raiser.
Gent finished fifth last season – 15 points behind first-place Royale Union Saint-Gilloise – before finishing atop the Conference League play-off group.
FT 1-0 | Geen Gentse Feesten in Brugge #clugnt #supercup #ft pic.twitter.com/ztk02MF4xj— KAA Gent (@KAAGent) July 17, 2022
FT 1-0 | Geen Gentse Feesten in Brugge #clugnt #supercup #ft pic.twitter.com/ztk02MF4xj
Meanwhile, Standard Liege finished all the way down in fourteenth place – 26 points behind Gent and 20 points clear of last-place Beerschot.
Standard won just nine of their 34 league games last term, registering nine draws and 16 losses along the way.
Having netted a measly 32 goals during the 2021-22 campaign, Standard were the second-lowest scorers in the division.
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Standard finished the previous season in poor form, winning just two of their final 11 league outings.
It is also worth noting that Standard have failed to win any of their pre-season friendlies, recording one draw and three defeats.
As for KAA Gent, they won 18 of their 34 league games last term – registering eight draws and eight losses in the process.
Only three teams picked up more wins than Gent last season, while only three sides suffered fewer defeats.
It is also worth pointing out that Gent finished the previous campaign with the second-best defensive record in the division, having conceded just 30 goals.
Gent were especially strong on their travels last season, avoiding defeat in each of their final ten away games in the league.
When you look at the bigger picture, Gent have only lost three of their previous 21 Juplier Pro League encounters.
Head-to-head: Gent have won each of their past four meetings with Standard in all competitions, scoring nine goals in the process.
11 of the previous 14 meetings between Standard and Gent have produced over 2.5 goals, meaning we should see plenty of action on Friday.
Team news: Standard will start the season without forward Abdoul Tapsoba as the Burkina Faso international continues to recover from a muscle problem.
On the flip side, Gent are currently missing the injured trio of Julien de Sart, Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe and Laurent Depoitre.
Given the 26-point guld between these two sides last season, Gent are expected to kick off the new campaign with a victory.
Forebet predicts that Gent will score over 1.5 goals on their way to dispatching Standard, beginning the season on the front foot.