KAA Gent vs KV Kortrijk Prediction: The home team will win

On Sunday afternoon, as part of a busy weekend of football in Belgium's First Division A, Gent will kick off their domestic league campaign at Ghelamco Arena against Kortrijk. The home team comes into this match having taken a dominant 5-1 lead in their second round first leg Europa Conference League qualifier against MSK Zilina in midweek, while the away team has gone into this match having won a preseason friendly against Volendam by a score of 2-1.

After the conclusion of the regular season in the Belgian First Division A, Gent finished in fifth position with 56 points, three points behind Club Brugge in the race for the fourth and last berth in the Championship round qualification. This was Gent's second consecutive season finishing in fifth place. As a consequence of this, achieving that breakthrough into the Championship round will be the primary objective for Gent.

The home team has a winning record of three out of their previous four matches across all competitions as they head into this encounter. After The Buffalos' dominating 5-1 win over MSK Zilina in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the Conference League, the home team is now virtually assured of a place in the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. The team will now attempt to maintain this momentum into the new season; nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that they won only nine of their seventeen home games during the previous campaign.

The fact that the squad will be able to keep guys like Gift Emmanuel Orban, who was a sensation in the second half of the season, is going to be a huge advantage for them.

Last season's campaign for Kortrijk was a struggle to say the least, as the team finished only one spot above the relegation zone and was only separated from the bottom three by four points. They played a total of 34 matches and ended 14th in the league with 31 points, which was their lowest point total in the first division in over 15 years.

They did manage to pull off two impressive victories during the preseason, but both victories came against significantly weaker opponents. While this may have helped them develop a sense of competence, it is probable that they will find it much more challenging to win against an opponent who is ranked in the top half of their division. Last weekend, the away team finished their preseason with a 2-1 victory over Volendam, a team from the Eredivisie.

K.A.A. Gent: Davy Roef(GK), Jordan Torunarigha, Núrio Fortuna, Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Matisse Samoise, Sven Kums, Julien De Sart, Hyunseok Hong, Gift Orban, Malick Fofana, Hugo Cuypers.

Kortrijk: Tom Vandenberghe(GK), Nayel Mehssatou, Martin Wasinski, João Silva, Christalino Atemona, Massimo Decoene, Abdelkahar Kadri, Youssef Challouk, Massimo Bruno, Felipe Avenatti, David Henen.

The current winning streak for Gent in all competitions is at three games, while the team has only one loss in their last 11 games overall. Both of Gent's meetings against this opponent from the previous season were won relatively easily, and the team was in excellent form in their 5-1 Europa Conference League qualification victory last week. Therefore, Gent should be able to win this match easily by scoring a lot of goals.