Gent welcome Roma to the Ghelamco Arena on Thursday night for the second leg of their Europa League Round of 32 clash.
The Italian side head to Belgium with a one-goal advantage thanks to Carles Perez’s strike in the first leg. However, Gent had numerous goalscoring opportunities last week, so they will be disappointed to be trailing.
Gent come into this game on the back of a 4-1 victory over Sint-Truiden. Jonathan David scored a hat-trick to help his side to a comfortable win, while Giorgi Kvilitaia completed the scoring.
Jess Thorup’s side are currently second in the Belgian Pro League – seven points ahead of third-place Standard Liege and nine points behind league leaders Club Brugge. Gent are also the top scorers in the Belgian top-flight.
🏟 Stadion open vanaf 17u25🚌 Pendelbussen Gentbrugge vanaf 17u15🅿 Parkings open vanaf 17u25#kaagent #GNTROM #UELhttps://t.co/6VCab3fDsZ— KAA Gent (@KAAGent) February 25, 2020
🏟 Stadion open vanaf 17u25🚌 Pendelbussen Gentbrugge vanaf 17u15🅿 Parkings open vanaf 17u25#kaagent #GNTROM #UELhttps://t.co/6VCab3fDsZ
Gent made it through the Europa League group stage unbeaten after winning three and drawing three. The Belgians finished one point clear of Wolfsburg at the top of Group I.
On the other hand, Roma had a record of W2-D3-L1 in the group stage. The Italians finished one point behind Group J winner Istanbul Basaksehir and one point ahead of third-place Borussia Monchengladbach.
Roma also scored four in their previous game as they thrashed Leece 4-0 on Sunday. Cengiz Under, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Edin Dzeko and Aleksandar Kolarov all got on the scoresheet as Roma dominated the Serie A strugglers.
Roma have cemented fifth place in Serie A and now sit six points ahead of Napoli and three points behind Atalanta.
The Italian side are unbeaten in the last three meetings between these two teams, while the aggregate scoreline currently sits at 11-2 in favour of Roma.
It’s also worth pointing out that Roma are unbeaten in six of their last seven games in the Europa League.
Gent forward Roman Yaremchuk is still recovering from surgery, but the Belgian side have no fresh injury worries ahead of Thursday’s clash.
Jonathan David is one to watch for Gent. The 20-year-old has netted nine goals in his last six league appearances.
As for Roma, key midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo is out for the rest of the season through injury, while Amadou Diawara, Alessandro Florenzi and Javier Pastore are also sidelined.
Just like the first leg, this game is expected to be a low-scoring affair with very few goalscoring chances.
Forebet predicts that Roma will edge Gent by a single goal.