Club Brugge has a new coach, Englishman Scott Parker. He has to get Brugge back in the title race and raise the national champions’ level ahead of their historic Champions League Round of 16 clash with Benfica. Parker starts with a tricky assignment, away at Pro League leaders Genk. The stadium is already sold out.

Upon his appointment, Carl Hoefkens’ successor talked about his preference for 4-3-3. In midfield, it will be a case of improvisation. Raphael Onyedika will not feature in front of the defence. He picked up a yellow card against OHL and now has five to his name, resulting in a one game suspension. It also remains to be seen whether Casper Nielsen will be available. The Danish mile-eater had to withdraw early from the game against OHL due to hamstring problems.

Eder Balanta may take Raphael Onyedika’s place, but who would replace Casper Nielsen? Denis Odoi could play out of position in midfield. Mats Rits is lacking match fitness after surgery and several months of rehabilitation. It will be interesting to see how Parker handles this.

Up front, there are also problems. Noa Lang went off against OHL with a minor injury. However, the Dutch international is reported to be back fit, although whether or not he is match-fit remains to be seen. Perhaps Andreas Skov-Olsen will reappear in the squad, although rumours are growing that the Danish World Cup contender is pushing for a departure in the winter transfer window.

Genk, on the other hand, have reinforced themselves in recent weeks. They have acquired the speedy winger Sor from Slavia Prague. His arrival should allow rotation and reduce the pressures on key players Paintsil and Trésor. Genk also has El Khanouss returning after his contributions to Morocco’s World Cup semi-final run. He forms a successful midfield with Heynen and Hrosovsky.

I therefore expect a dominant home team to show their class against a bruised opponent. On the first matchday, they won 3-2 at the Jan Breydel Stadium. Genk dominated this match, but Brugge handled their few chances very efficiently. Now the situation is different. Brugge are trying to play their way out of a crisis, while Genk have been showing quality football all season. Given the form of both teams, Genk should now have the push to beat the rival from Bruges.