The Buffalos, who have reached the last eight of a European competition for the first time since 1991/92, face West Ham, who their boss has described as a “real power team.”
To boost their prospects of progression, Gent will hope they can register a crucial first-leg home victory here. And although they welcome Premier League opposition, confidence in front of their home fans should be high given the hosts have lost just one of their last 15 competitive outings at Ghelamco Arena (W10, D4) which includes three victories in this tournament.
The Irons will fancy their chances of ending that run, though, particularly as they have impressively won each of their ten games in the UECL this season.
Fans of a certain age will also be relishing the return to Belgium, as West Ham’s only previous meeting with Gent ended in a 2-1 aggregate victory in the first round of the 1964/65 Cup Winners’ Cup, a competition they went on to win!
This time around, the UECL is providing a welcome distraction from the Hammers’ relegation battle in the Premier League.
Yet it has done nothing to lift the pressure on manager David Moyes, as banners calling for him to be sacked were unveiled during their weekend win over Fulham, despite that being their third victory in four games (L1) across all competitions.
Key battle: Hugo Cuypers has netted first or last in 11 of his last 12 goalscoring appearances for Gent. Trying to outdo him will be West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen, who has scored half of his ten goals this season in the UECL, becoming West Ham’s all-time leading scorer in European football - with eight strikes - in the process.
Hot streak: Only one of West Ham’s last nine away games in European competition has seen both teams score.
