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Pogon Szczecin will host Gent in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying tie on Thursday.
The visitors hold a comfortable lead in the tie, having cruised to a 5-0 victory in the first leg in Belgium last week. Nigerian forward Gift Orban continued his rich vein of form with a hat-trick, while Hugo Cuypers scored a brace to complete the rout.
Pogon followed up their continental defeat with a 2-0 loss on home turf against Radomiak Radom in the Polish Ekstraklasa. Lisandro Semedo and Mateusz Cichocki scored first-half goals to help the visitors leave with all three points.
Gent, meanwhile, saw off Westerlo with a 3-1 comeback away win in the Belgian Jupiler League. Tsuyoshi Watanabe leveled matters in the first half, while Cuypers scored a second-half brace.
The Buffaloes booked their spot in the third round of the qualifiers with a 10-3 aggregate bashing of Zilina in the last round. A 5-1 home win was followed by a 5-2 away win in Slovakia. Pogon qualified with an 8-4 aggregate win over Linfield. A 5-2 away win was followed by a 3-2 victory in Poland.
The winner of this tie will face either Dila Gori or APOEL Nicosia in the playoff for a spot in the Conference League group stage.
Pogon Szczecin vs Gent Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Last week's clash was the first meeting between the two sides.
- Gent have won all six competitive games they have played this season.
- The opening goal has been scored within the first 20 minutes in each of Pogon's last five games.
- Five of Gent's last six games this season have produced three goals or more, with Gent scoring at least three goals in all five.
- Four of Pogon Szczecin's last five games have produced at least three goals.
Pogon Szczecin vs Gent Prediction
Gent have been in imperious form this season and have practically booked their spot in the next round following their first-leg blitz.
Pogon have lost their last two games on the bounce and their task is made more difficult by the fact that they need to score six unanswered goals to progress.
We are backing Gent to claim a narrow win with goals at both ends.
Prediction: Pogon 2-3 Gent
Pogon Szczecin vs Gent Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Gent to win
Tip 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 4 - Gent to win either half
