Aiming to maintain their 100% record in all competitions so far this season, Gent will welcome newly-promoted Dender to Planet Group Arena on the second weekend of the new Belgian Pro League campaign.
De Buffalo's are shining on the domestic and continental stage currently, whilst Sunday's visitors are simply aiming to stay at the top level of Belgian football this term.
Match preview
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Since a narrow 1-0 defeat to French giants Lille in their final pre-season fixture of the summer, Gent have strung together a run of three straight wins across the Pro League and Conference League qualifying to give themselves a very positive start to the 2024-25 season.
With a massive 4-1 advantage from the first leg last week, De Buffalo's turned on the style in the Faroe Islands on Thursday night to make complete sure of their spot in the third round of qualifying, with centre-back Stefan Mitrovic getting the scoring underway for the visitors during a 3-0 win over Vikingur Gota.
In between two one-sided affairs against the European minnows, Gent commenced their Pro League business with maximum points at Guldemsporenstadion last Sunday, when a second-half effort from Icelandic striker Andri Gudjohnsen was ultimately enough for the victory.
Joining Westerlo, Royal Antwerp and Anderlecht as sides to have won their first fixture of the domestic season, De Buffalo's are currently occupying third position in the top-flight standings, falling from second following Union SG's 3-1 win over Beerschot.
For the first time since a 2008-09 season that ended in heartbreaking relegation, Dender are back at the top level of Belgian football, with the top-flight underdogs looking to achieve the extraordinary and avoid the drop this time around.
Sunday's visitors started their quest for Pro League safety in respectable fashion last Saturday, when a heroic defensive performance allowed them to force Union SG to a share of the spoils at Dender Football Complex.
Following the departure of last season's promotion-winning manager, Vincent Euvrard is now the man tasked with keeping his minnows in the division, with the 42-year-old spending the majority of his coaching career to date in the second tier.
Scoring once every two games for Dender in the Challenger League last season, 14-goal striker Bruny Nsimba will need to make a successful step-up to the Pro League should the newly-promoted side wish to avoid an immediate return to the lower reaches of Belgian football.
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Team News
After a sensational campaign in League Two at MK Dons, which ultimately concluded in playoff disappointment, Max Dean is back at Gent and will be hoping to make his first domestic appearance of the season soon.
Following a solid display at Kortrijk last weekend, De Buffalo's should stick with a centre-back pairing of Mitrovic and Tsuyoshi Watanabe.
Dender remain without the services of Michael Lallemand, with the attacker suffering a broken ankle during last season's promotion-winning term.
The visitors are likely to operate with a back three of Kobe Cools, Joedrick Pupe and Gilles Ruyssen at the home of Gent this weekend.
Gent possible starting lineup:
Roef; Fadiga, Watanabe, Mitrovic, Brown; Kums, Yokota, Delorge, Hong, Surdez; Gudjohnsen
Dender possible starting lineup:
Verrips; Hrncar, Cools, Pupe, Ruyssen, Ferraro; Rodes, Viltard, Kvet; Hens, Nsimba
We say: Gent 2-0 Dender
Dender did amazingly to keep Union SG at bay last weekend, but we feel that repeating the trick away at Gent will a significantly harder task.
De Buffalo's are in sensational form during the opening stages of the term, and there is no reason why they cannot extend their winning run across all competitions to four matches.
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