Gent vs West Ham Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, predicted line-ups
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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When is it? How can you watch it? What are the possible line-ups? All you need to know about the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg between Gent and West Ham.
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Gent and West Ham meet in their UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg on Thursday 13 April.
Gent vs West Ham at a glance
When: Thursday 13 April (18:45 CET kick-off)
Where: KAA Gent Stadium, Ghent
What: UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg
How to follow: Build-up and live coverage can be found here
Winners face Anderlecht or AZ in the semi-finals, playing the home leg first
Where to watch Gent vs West Ham
Fans can find their local UEFA Europa Conference League broadcast partner(s) here.
What do you need to know?
The form team in the competition with ten consecutive victories (including qualifying), West Ham take on a Gent side whose last performance rewrote the record books. Gift Orban's incredible four-minute hat-trick gave a flavour of the destructive qualities the Belgian outfit possess, and the Hammers will not take them lightly. There is also a positive omen for the English outfit: their first ever match in UEFA competition came against Gent – then known as La Gantoise – en route to the European Cup Winners' Cup title in 1964/65.
Predicted line-ups
Gent: Roef; Samoise, Piątkowski, Okumu, Torunarigha, Castro-Montes; De Sart, Kums, Hong; Cuypers, Orban
Misses next match if booked: Cuypers, Marreh, Nurio Fortuna, Torunarigha
West Ham: Areola; Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Downes, Rice; Bowen, Lanzini, Benrahma; Antonio
Misses next match if booked: Ogbonna, Mubama
Form guide
Gent
Form (all competitions, most recent first): DWWWWD
Where they stand: 4th in Belgian First League
West Ham
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WLWWDW
Where they stand: 14th in English Premier League
Expert prediction
Brecht Schelstraete, match reporter
AEK Larnaca proved to be comfortable opponents for West Ham in the round of 16, but Gent have a little more to offer. With central defender Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui leaving for China at the end of March, Joseph Okumu now leads the the Belgian side at the back. West Ham have won all of their games in the Europa Conference League this season but may struggle to contain Gent's strike partners, Hugo Cuypers and Gift Orban. The latter has scored 14 goals in 12 games since joining the club from Norwegian side Stabæk in January.
View from the camps
Hein Vanhaezebrouck, Gent coach: "[West Ham are] a very athletic team with a lot of power. We will not be able to match that power. You can't always win battles by matching opponents' qualities. If you don't have their power, you have to do it another way. We absolutely have to start from our qualities and do more with possession."
David Moyes, West Ham coach: "You can never tell with football. I would never ever be presumptuous to think that [we are favourites] because we need to improve. I need to get us closer to our levels."
What happens next?
The second leg takes place on 20 April, with the winners advancing to the semi-finals, where they will face the victors of the Anderlecht vs AZ Alkmaar tie.
The Eden Arena (pictured above) in Prague, Czechia, will host this season's Europa Conference League final on 7 June 2023.