Wolfsburg vs Gent Prediction and Preview – 08/03/16
Champions League preview – Wolfsburg vs Gent prediction.
Wolfsburg manager Dieter Hecking has no new injury concerns and can name the same eleven that started for the victory over Gladbach on Saturday. Julian Draxler, who scored twice in the first leg, was on the score sheet again at the weekend and looks certain to lead the attack in the absence of injured centre-forward Bas Dost. Nicklas Bendtner is hoping to be available for selection and would probably start on the bench if passed fit. Goalkeeper Diego Benaglio and midfielder Paul Seguin are doubtful while defenders Sebastien Jung and Naldo have been ruled out.
Striker Laurent Depoitre is the biggest concern for Gent manager Hein Vanhaezebrouck after the club’s leading scorer pulled out of Friday’s Pro League match suffering from an abdominal muscle problem. Aristide Diedhiou deputised against Leuven but faces competition from Kalifa Coulibaly if Depoitre fails his fitness test. Midfielder Moubarak Boussoufa scored the goal to earn a 1-1 draw on Friday but is not eligible for the trip to Germany. Hannes Van Der Bruggen, Peter Olayinka and Gustav Wikheim are sidelined with injury.
Possible Line-ups
Wolfsburg 4-3-3 formation: Casteels; Vieirinha, Knoche, Dante, Rodriguez; Giulavogui, Gustavo, Arnold; Schurrle, Draxler, Kruse
Gent 3-4-2-1 formation: Sels; Nielsen, Mitrovic, Asare; Foket, Neto, Kums, Simon; Milicevic, Dejaegere; Depoitre
Statistics
- Wolfsburg have won 7 drawn 2 and lost 1 of their last 10 matches
- Gent have won 5 drawn 1 and lost 4 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Wolfsburg have scored an average of 1.8 goals and conceded an average of 1.5 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Gent have scored an average of 1.7 goals and conceded an average of 1.4 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 6 of Wolfsburg’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 6 of Gent’s previous 10 matches
Prediction
Wolfsburg closed the gap to sixth-placed Monchengladbach to two points with a hard-earned victory over their Bundesliga rivals on Saturday. It concluded a demanding run of domestic fixtures following the 3-2 first leg victory in Gent which included a 1-1 draw at third-placed Hertha Berlin and a 2-0 defeat at home to league leaders Bayern Munich. There was some respite last Tuesday with a trip to bottom-of-the-league Hannover where Hecking’s men triumphed 4-0.
Gent kept the tie alive by scoring two goals in the last ten minutes to reduce the first leg deficit to one goal and at least have a fighting chance. However, their away form will have to improve drastically as they have lost on four of the last five road trips the most recent of which was the 5-2 defeat against Ostende. Gent will also have been disappointed to drop two points at home to relegation-threatened Leuven on Friday.
Wolfsburg have won their last three Champions League games and the visitors have their work cut out to deny the Bundesliga side a place in the quarter-finals.
Tips
Wolfsburg to win at 8/15 with bet365
Over 2.5 goals at 4/6 at Sky Bet
Wolfsburg to win 2-1 at 8/1 with BetVictor
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