RUSG v Gent

AA Gent defeated KV Mechelen 3-0. A more than much-needed victory. Chairman Ivan De Witte criticized the coach beforehand. This did not go down well with Hein Vanhaezebrouck.

The coach threw the ball back hard. With the statement that he should be able to talk about football with experts. A firm jab at the president. Three points, three goals and a clean sheet. Newspapers suggest that the chairman and the coach will sit down together for a good talk. They had success together in the past and are expected to settle this. The victory against Mechelen has clearly not yet removed all the stress. Only a win against Union seems to be the remedy.

Union are Gent’s direct rival for Play-off 1 and the vice-champion is in good form. They share third place with Club Brugge and are currently 5 points above Gent. They are also doing well at European level, being certain of qualification to the knockout stage of the Europa League. Moreover, the new striker Boniface is a worthy replacement for the departed top marksman Undav. Up front, he smoothly finds the connection with Vanzeir and with his work rate he is a scourge for the opponent’s defense. Last weekend’s win at Ostend was a solid 1-6. That is also the seventh game in a row that they have scored 2 or more goals. (Union over 1.5 goals stands odd 2.05). Ghent has been warned.

We expect a feisty match, this is important for both teams with an eye on Play-off 1. This might cause less offensive play. Union can create chances from little space, Gent are less able to do so. On top of that, the Buffalo’s have shown no defensive security this season. So Union is favoured to keep the three points at home. They are nicely listed at odds of 2.10.

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Club Brugge v Sint-Truiden

After two hard-fought matches, champions Club Brugge host one of the smaller clubs in the Pro League, Sint-Truiden.

Sint-Truiden recorded an important victory against Charleroi and are thus 6 points above the relegation zone. However, offensively things have been difficult this season. Because of the many defensive tasks coach Hollerbach imposes, there is not enough freshness up front. Newcomers Kagawa and Okazaki are solid reinforcements on paper, but the connections with teammates are still often awkward. Nevertheless, the diligent Okoazaki is expected to be favored up front over the quick but offensively focused Bruno. 

The big standout at Club Brugge in recent games has been goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. He was crucial with numerous saves in the important wins against Atlético Madrid and Anderlecht. The match against Sint-Truiden is also special for him because he became famous there as a goalkeeper. This was followed by an adventure in the Premier League with Sunderland and Liverpool. Since his arrival at Club Brugge, he has consistently proven to be a star keeper, with an ironclad 2022. That makes him top favourite for the Golden Shoe, for which votes will be cast this week.

Possibly, coach Hoefkens will rest some starting players in view of  important upcoming games against Union and Porto. Nevertheless, Brugge has plenty of quality on the bench. Noa Lang, last year’s runner-up in the Golden Shoe, was not even in the selection against Anderlecht. After two games where blue-black limited themselves mainly to defending, the expectation is that they will now take full possession of the ball. That should also result in goals.  

Last season they won 2-0 at home and had 73% ball possession and 19 shots. It would not be a surprise should this result be repeated. Therefore, both bets on goals from Club Brugge are interesting but with Club’s strong defense it is also interesting to play on handicap.

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