KRC Genk v KAA Gent Betting Tips: Hosts to stamp their authority once more

This all-Belgian clash turned out to be a thriller in the first leg as KRC Genk managed to secure a 5-2 win away at KAA Gent.

Genk will be most pleased with their win because they scored five away goals which means that Gent will have to score four without reply this Thursday to have any chance of going through. The Smurfs followed up this emphatic victory with another in the league at the weekend as they battered bottom-of-the-table Westerlo 4-0 to push themselves up to 8th in the table.

Prior to that match in Gent, goals had been a bit of a problem for Albert Stuivenberg’s men as they had just the tenth-best scoring record in the Belgian league. However, whilst they are still down in 9th in the goal-scoring charts, the last two matches where they have scored an amazing nine goals proves that they are more than capable of finding the back of the net. They also managed to keep a clean sheet last time out which means they have kept five since the start of February.

Home form has been Genk’s saving grace this campaign given their poor domestic season overall and they have the fourth-best home record in the top flight with 33 points from 15 at Luminus Arena. Additionally, they have won three of their last four (in which they are unbeaten) on home turf, conceding just twice and keeping two clean sheets in the process.

After they followed up a good Champions League campaign from last season by dumping the fancied Tottenham Hotspur out of the Europa League in this one, it looked like Gent could be a bit of a dark horse for the coming years. However, they now have it all to do after losing and conceding five away goals against fellow Belgians Genk in the first leg. They did manage to pick themselves back up at the weekend though by beating KV Mechelen 3-0, putting them 4th in the table.

As mentioned last time, Gent have been pretty solid at the back this season and have the second-best defensive record in Belgium with just 29 conceded in 30 games. However, the fact they conceded five against Genk shows they can be exploited. They are decent going forward, and will need to be on Thursday if they have any hope of going through, and have scored 13 in their last five in all competitions.

Unfortunately for Gent, going by their away form, it looks like they have little chance of overturning the three-goal deficit here. Blauwit may have won their last match on their travels but before then they had not won in seven games on the road.

Genk are the favourites to both win this game and obviously go through – Given Gent’s away form, I expect them to do to both. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that Genk won the Belgian top flight match between these two at home as recently as late-December 2016. 7/5 on the hosts claiming victory is worth snapping up.

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