West Ham welcome Gent to London in the second leg of their 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League Quarter-Final.
With the tie locked at 1-1 apiece on aggregate, victory would see either team advance but a draw would necessitate extra-time and potentially penalties to determine who will advance to the semi-finals.
Team News
Nayef Aguerd is set to return for West Ham after he missed their 2-2 draw against Arsenal last weekend with a foot injury.
Angelo Ogbonna (back/suspension) and Gianluca Scamacca (knee) remain absent.
Gent have no fresh injury concerns to report but striker, Gift Orban could return after he was rested in Gent’s 1-1 draw against Mechelen in Belgian Pro League.
Darko Lemajic (adductor), Sulayman Marreh (muscle) and Andrew Hjulsager (Achilles) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
West Ham host Gent at London Stadium, London, in a 8:00pm BST kick-off on Thursday 20 April, live on BT Sport in UK.
Stat Attack
- West Ham are unbeaten in three previous meetings against Gent in all competitions (W1, D2).
- Gent drew 1-1 in their only previous visit to West Ham in October 1964, albeit at the Hammers’ former home – Upton Park.
- West Ham have failed to score more than one goal in each of their three meetings against Gent.
- Jarrod Bowen has scored five goals in his four appearances at home for West Ham in this season’s Europa Conference League (W4).
- Gent have won just one of five away games in this season’s Europa Conference League (W1, D2, L2).
Prediction
Having been comfortably outclassed in the first leg with only stubborn defending and a clinical opening goal keeping them level coming into this leg, West Ham now must make home advantage count by delivering a more aggressive performance than they did in Gent.
David Moyes’ Hammers will also be buoyant by how they fought back to draw 2-2 at home to Arsenal – who posed a similar attacking challenge to Gent, yet they were wasteful in their end product amidst dominance after a slow sloppy defensive start with two conceded goals.
Gent though rested some key players like Orban in their 1-1 draw against Mechelen so I do expect them to look to dominate with their aggressive intensity, although their away form in Europe has been poor this season so they will need the perfect performance if want to advance.
I however just can’t see West Ham losing this given their home form and Bowen’s goalscoring record at the London Stadium in this competition, but Gent should realistically push them all the way.
Prediction: West Ham 2-1 Gent
Result: West Ham 4-1 Gent (West Ham win 5-2 on aggregate!!)