by Ian S Palmer
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Gent of Belgium will be kicking off its two-legged European Champions League round-of-16 clash against German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg at home this week. The first contest of the home and away series takes place at KAA Gent Stadium in Ghent this Wednesday, February 17 with the second leg being held in Germany two weeks later. Gent has some injury problems and could be missing the likes of Matton, Dejaegere, L. Nielsen, and Milicevic while Wolfsburg could be without Dost, Arnold, Guilavogui and Andre Schurrle.
Gent vs Wolfsburg – Pinnacle SOCCER BETTING LINE:
- Pinnacle currently lists Wolfsburg as the favorites at +168 with Gent +182 and a draw at +242
Gent finished the group stage in second place in Group H behind Zenit St. Petersburg of Russia. The Belgian club had three wins, a draw and two losses for 10 points with eight goals scored and seven allowed. Valencia of Spain and Olympique Lyonnais of France were also in the group. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg raced up 12 points to win Group B on four victories and a pair of losses. They scored nine times and conceded six. Other teams in the group were PSV Eindhoven of Holland, English Premier League giants Manchester United and CSKA Moscow of Russia.
Gent won the Belgian title last season and is currently sitting in first place in the nation’s Jupiler League. They’ve played 26 games and have 13 wins, seven draws and three losses for 55 points. They’ve scored 49 goals and allowed 21 against and have a three-point lead over second-place Club Brugge. Gent has just one loss at home in league play this season along with nine wins and three draws. Wolfsburg is struggling in the Bundesliga as the German team has just 30 points and is occupying eighth place in the 18-club league. They have eight wins, six draws and seven defeats with 31 goals scored and 28 allowed.
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Both Wolfsburg and Gent are playing in the knockout stages for the first time and this is the first time Gent has reached the European Champions League. Gent drew 1-1 against Olympique Lyonnais at home and then edged Valencia 1-0 and FC Zenit 2-1. They’ve met German clubs just twice in their history and won both series, which were against Eintracht Frankfurt the UEFA Cup in 1991/92 and in the Intertoto Cup in 2001 against Werder Bremen. Wolfsburg lost 2-1 to Manchester United FC in the group stage and were downed 2-0 in Eindhoven, but managed to beat CSKA Moscow 2-0 away. This will be their first meeting against a Belgian club in European competition.
Gent has lost three of their last 11 contests in all competitions. They have added Gustav Wikheim, Lucas Deaux and Rami Gershon to the squad while Benito Raman, Erik Johansson, Nicklas Pedersen, Marko Poletanovic and Uros Vitas have left. In addition, defender Naldo will sit out the first leg due to a suspension. Wolfsburg just ended their seven-match winless streak in the Bundesliga last Saturday with a 2-0 home win over FC Ingolstadt. The team has allowed three goals against in each of their past three road games. Wolfsburg has added Ismail Azzaoui, Bruno Henrique, Jannes Horn, Robin Ziegele and Leandro Putaro to the squad and has dropped Timm Klose and Francisco Rodriguez.
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