Following his dismissal in October, former Charleroi coach Edward Still meets his former club again. A win will allow Still, now coach at Eupen, to jump over his old employer in the standings, so the reunion promises to be intense with extra motivation for the hosts.

Eupen are currently 13th with 19 points. Charleroi are in 12th place with the same number of points. That puts both teams barely above the relegation zone.

At Charleroi, Felice Mazzu is starting his second tenure. After his successful tenure at Union, his time at Anderlecht never really got off the ground. His rather defensive approach is hard to justify at a top club, especially when results are lacking. This was also evident from an earlier spell in charge at Genk. At the Zebras, however, this approach is appreciated. The supporters love battle, even if it sometimes comes at the expense of possession and the quality of football on display. We expect Charleroi to allow Eupen plenty of the ball.

It will be interesting to see what Eupen will do with the possession that they will be afforded. The win against Seraing was deserved, although they could only score in the closing stages. Against Charleroi, who are defensively more solid than Seraing, Eupen will have to move the ball faster, whilst remaining guarded against the threat of a counter-attack. With 38 goals against in 18 matches, Eupen has the third worst record of all teams in terms of goals against.

In the August fixture, it ended 3-1 to Charleroi, but both teams have changed a lot in the months since. Neither side has retained the 3-5-2 formation they employed in the reverse fixture, for example, and both sides have changed coach. We anticipate a more closely-fought game with fewer chances and goals. Eupen’s recent games against those other Walloon teams, Seraing and Standard, were very physical battles with few goals. I expect nothing different this match.