Gent will be looking to overturn a one-goal deficit when they welcome Maccabi Haifa to the Ghelamco Arena for the second leg of their Europa Conference League playoff tie on Wednesday night.
Frantzdy Pierrot scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 first-leg win for the Greens last week, becoming the first player from Grenada to score in the knockout rounds of a European competition.
Match preview
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Success has been hard to come by for Gent, who failed to win any of their first seven competitive games since the turn of the year, losing six of those including each of their first four this month.
De Buffalo's only registered three of their 20 shots on target in a frustrating yet slender one-goal defeat to Israeli outfit Maccabi Haifa last week, pilling more pressure on manager Hein Vanhaezebrouck.
However, that pressure has since eased after Gent claimed a much-needed 2-0 away victory over Eupen in the Belgian Pro League on Sunday evening, thanks to goals either side of half time from Hong Hyun-seok and Matisse Samoise.
Gent, who have climbed up to fifth in the Belgian Pro League table, now shift their attention back to the Europa Conference League as they endeavour to advance to the last 16 for the third successive campaign – De Buffalos lost to eventual winners West Ham United at the quarter-final stage last season.
Vanhaezebrouck's side will fancy their chances of overturning their one-goal deficit on Wednesday as they are unbeaten in each of their last 10 home matches in the Europa Conference League, winning their last five in a row by an aggregate score of 18-1.
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Maccabi Haifa claimed their third successive win in all competitions when they beat Gent last week, but they were unable to celebrate four victories in a row as they were held to a 1-1 draw by city rivals Hapoel Haifa in the Israeli Premier League on Sunday.
January signing Gadi Kinda opened the scoring in the 15th minute, but Tomer Yosefi netted what proved to be a crucial equaliser for Hapoel Haifa just before the hour mark to force both sides to share the spoils.
Managed by Ethiopian boss Messay Dego, Maccabi Haifa remain top of the Israeli Premier League and are in the driving seat to win a fourth consecutive top-flight title, although they sit level on points with challengers Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
The Greens now shift their focus to Wednesday's important Europa Conference League clash in which they merely need to avoid defeat to reach the last 16 of a major European competition for the first time in their history.
Maccabi Haifa have reason to be optimistic against Gent as they are unbeaten in their last two European away games, with a goalless draw against Villarreal followed by a 2-1 win at Panathinaikos in the Europa League group stage earlier this season.
Team News
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Gent are still having to cope without Paul Nardi (broken leg), Sven Kums (ankle), Daisuke Yokota (knee) and Andrew Hjulsager (unspecified) as they continue to recover from injury.
However, Jordan Torunarigha recovered from an ankle problem to make the matchday squad last weekend and the centre-back is in contention to feature on Wednesday.
Following the sale of top scorer Hugo Cuypers to Chicago Fire earlier this month, Tarik Tissoudali, Laurent Depoitre and Momodou Sonko are all set to battle for a start in attack.
As for Maccabi Haifa, Dolev Haziza (Achilles), Eric Shuranov (ligament), Ilay Hajaj (abdominal) and Mahmoud Jaber (hamstring) are all ruled out with injuries, while Sun Menahem is a doubt due to concussion.
However, Pierre Cornud is available for selection after missing the first leg through suspension and the French left-back could be recalled at the expense of Kenny Saief.
Gent possible starting lineup:
Roef; Kandouss, Watanabe, Mitrovic; Samoise, De Sart, Gerkens, Brown; Hong; Tissoudali, Depoitre
Maccabi Haifa possible starting lineup:
Kaiuf; Feingold, Goldberg, Seck, Cornud; Kandil, Mohamed, Show, Lesovoy; Kinda; Pierrot
We say: Gent 1-1 Maccabi Haifa (Maccabi Haifa to win 2-1 on aggregate)
Another closely-fought contest could be on the cards between two teams desperate to secure their spot in the last 16, and although Gent have been strong on home soil in European competition, we believe that Maccabi Haifa will get the job done to progress on aggregate.
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Oliver Thomas
