- 1 Braga vs Gent: two meetings, two draws, and two attacks short of goals
- 2 Braga: three goals in five games and one shot on target in Copenhagen
- 3 Gent: unbeaten at home, nine changes and a cup exit away
- 4 Free Conference League Prediction: Braga vs Gent
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Braga vs Gent: two meetings, two draws, and two attacks short of goals 
Braga and Gent have met twice, both times in the 2016-17 Europa League group stage, and both games were drawn: 1-1 in Braga on 15 September 2016 and 2-2 in Gent that November. Ten years on they meet again at the Estádio Municipal de Braga on Thursday, kick-off 20:00 UK time.
Braga are the ones without a point. They lost 3-0 in Copenhagen on Matchday 1 and managed one shot on target all night. Horta had a goal ruled out for offside after a VAR check, Elyounoussi scored four minutes into the second half, and Cornelius came off the bench to score twice in the last 11 minutes.
Gent beat Aarhus 1-0 at home on the same night with an 86th-minute goal from substitute Hyllarion Goore. They had 15 shots to Aarhus’s three.
Rik De Mil made nine changes for a Belgian Cup tie at amateur side Union Rochefortoise on Saturday, the game finished 3-3 after extra time, and Gent went out 4-3 on penalties, with Sonko and Balikwisha both missing their kicks.
Braga are ninth in Liga Portugal with 11 points from seven games and a goal difference of zero. They play Gil Vicente at home on Monday night, after this preview was written.
Braga are favourites at around 1.70, with Gent near 5.00. I’m not convinced either attack deserves much trust at the moment. Braga have one goal in their last three games, and Gent needed 86 minutes to score at home against Aarhus.
Braga: three goals in five games and one shot on target in Copenhagen 
Braga’s last five competitive results read 3-0 down at Copenhagen, 3-1 at home to Sporting, 0-0 at Santa Clara, 1-0 at home to Estoril and 2-1 down at Estrela Amadora. That’s three goals in five games, 0.6 per match.
The Sporting game was the one that hurt. Braga took the lead and then conceded three times in the second half on 9 October. In their seven league games they’ve scored eight and conceded eight.
Carlos Vicens has injury problems in defence. Sikou Niakaté has ruptured his Achilles and Gabri Martínez missed the Copenhagen game. Arrey-Mbi did play in Denmark after being listed as a doubt earlier in the season.
At home Braga have won three of their last four. Their qualifying ties were tight as well: 1-0 and 0-0 against Dinamo Minsk, then 2-0 and 0-0 against Austria Wien.
The probable XI has Fontes in goal behind Gómez, Lagerbielke and Barcia, with Bajrami, Moutinho and Carvalho across midfield and Horta and Gabriel Silva supporting Pau Víctor. Horta is the one who found the net in Copenhagen, only for VAR to rule it out.
Across five European games this season Braga have scored three goals. The four qualifiers against Dinamo Minsk and Austria Wien brought four clean sheets but only those three goals, and then Copenhagen scored three without reply.
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Gent: unbeaten at home, nine changes and a cup exit away 
In the league Gent have won 2-0 at Zulte Waregem, 2-1 at home to Standard and drawn 1-1 at Genk, and they’re unbeaten at home in all competitions this season. They’re in the top two of the Jupiler Pro League.
The Aarhus game showed both sides of De Mil’s team. Gent controlled it, with 15 shots, but needed until the 86th minute to score, and Goore’s winner was set up by Tiago Araújo.
Saturday’s cup exit came with a reserve side. El Hadji Seck scored twice and Rochefort put through their own net, but Gent still conceded three to an amateur club over 120 minutes before losing the shootout.
Josué Vergara is out until around the end of the month with a muscle injury, and Mouhamed El Ngom is also unavailable. Hannes Vernemmen and Matisse Samoise are doubts.
Before the cup tie Gent had won four of their last five, with the draw at Genk the only dropped points. Their goals have come from different places: Goore off the bench against Aarhus, Seck twice in the cup, and a front three of Balikwisha, Cissé and Sonko in Europe.
Away from home, three of Gent’s last five games have produced three goals or more. The starters are expected back on Thursday after resting on Saturday, with Roef in goal and Cissé leading the line.
Probable lineup Braga: Fontes; Gómez, Lagerbielke, Barcia; Bajrami, Moutinho, Carvalho; G. Silva, Horta; Pau Víctor (one place open)
Probable lineup Gent: Roef; Paskotši, Burgess, Van der Heyden, Araújo; Volckaert, Delorge, De Vlieger; Balikwisha, Cissé, Sonko
Free Conference League Prediction: Braga vs Gent
Our prediction: Under 2.5 goals (odds 1.70)
Braga have scored three goals in their last five games and had one shot on target in Copenhagen. Gent needed until the 86th minute to beat Aarhus at home and are coming off a cup exit to an amateur side.
The argument against is Gent’s away games, three of their last five of which went over 2.5 goals, and Braga’s 3-1 home defeat to Sporting. I’d still expect Vicens to set Braga up carefully after the Copenhagen result, and Gent have shown they’re happy to be patient.
Both previous meetings between these clubs were draws, one of them 1-1 in Braga. I’d take under 2.5 goals at 1.70 and expect something like 1-0 or 1-1.
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