Gent winding up for Valencia counter-punch
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Article summary
With "19,000 fans behind us", Gent coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck hopes his side can sharpen up their act – and ward off Valencia's fearsome counterattacks – in Group H.
Article top media content
Article body
- Coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck backs Gent to improve on 2-1 loss to Valencia in Spain
- If Valencia win and Lyon do not, Valencia are through and Lyon are out
- Should Gent lose they cannot finish in the top two
- Gent kept first clean sheet in eight matches on Saturday
- Valencia have lost three of last four away games in all competitions
Possible lineup
Gent: Sels; Asare, Mitrović, Nielsen; Neto, Kums; Saief, Milicevic, Dejaegere, Foket; Depoitre/Coulibaly.
Out: Gershon (knee), Matton (foot), Van der Bruggen (stomach muscle), Pedersen (ankle)
Doubtful: Johansson (ill), Depoitre (ankle), Milicevic (thigh)
Valencia: Doménech; Barragán/Cancelo, Santos, Mustafi, Gayà; Javi Fuego, André Gomes, Parejo, Feghouli; Piatti, Alcácer.
Out: Abdennour (hamstring), Ryan (knee), Diego Alves (knee), Rodrigo (knee)
Doubtful: Feghouli (heel)
Hein Vanhaezebrouck, Gent coach
We saw in Valencia that they are very well organised and they showed their class. For large parts of the game we were in control but we did not score. With Valencia, you always have to pay attention to their counterattacks – they are very good at that. The big difference this time is that we play at home and we have 19,000 fans behind us.
Nuno Espírito Santo, Valencia coach
From the start of the competition we've known that Gent are a good team, they are champions of Belgium and now they're top of the league again. They are strong at home but we are well prepared and focused. We know it will be a difficult match but we are not surprised at all by the quality of Gent. We'll try to play better away, like we do at home. Mestalla gives us a lot of energy and it would be great to play there all the time!
Weekend results
Leuven 0-2 Gent (Coulibaly 3, Dejaegere 47)
Gent remain unbeaten in the Belgian First League after this fourth successive away triumph for the leaders.
Valencia 3-0 Levante (Paco Alcácer 64pen, Feghouli 72, Bakkali 80)
The seventh-placed hosts continued their win-lose Liga sequence, which now stretches to six games, as they overcame Levante thanks to a trio of second-half goals.
Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)
Gent: WWDLWW
Valencia: WLWWLW
Did you know?
Gent's sole previous home match against Spanish opposition was a 1-1 home draw with Málaga in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup, which completed their 4-1 aggregate reverse. Find out more in our extensive match background.