The highlight of this matchday sees league leaders Genk hosting third-placed Antwerp.

The last time these two sides met was when Antwerp knocked Genk out of the Croky Cup, winning 3-0 on a rare off-day for today’s hosts. Genk have recovered since and are comfortably sitting top of the standings.

Antwerp started the season very strongly, but they have struggled to score at times since. Against Oostende and Standard, they scored 7 goals combined, but then blanked in games against Union, Club Brugge, and Anderlecht. This is down to coach Van Bommel’s tactics. First priorities are always defence, and they are happy to let their opponents have the ball. It can lead to dull games, but against sides like Genk who rely on their attacking talent, Antwerp can get sucked into a more entertaining contest.

The football in the two games between these two sides has been of a high-level, with three and four goals in each game respectively. Genk have lost striker Onuachu to Southampton, but they have sought out a player with a similar profile in Arokdare who scored the winner against Gent last weekend. They have retained the rest of their squad and their sights are set firmly on a Pro League title.

Antwerp may have secured the win in the cup, but Genk are certainly the favourites. They will have to be wary of Antwerp duo Janssen and Balikwisha, and will not need reminding of this before the game as the pair have combined for three goals against Genk already this season.

Antwerp know that they cannot afford to play ‘wait-and-see’ football against a side like Genk. They have too much attacking talent and the only way to beat them is to put their sometimes stretched defence under pressure. Genk are unlikely to be surprised like last time, and should certainly get on the scoresheet, whereas Antwerp have scored 4 times against Genk this season. BTTS looks a great option for this one.

Lugano, like so many others, were frustrated by a trip to Winterthur and the Schutzenwiese as they became the fourth consecutive team to make their way back home with a 1-0 defeat. The result brought an end to a good run of form for the Ticino club who were unbeaten in their previous four stretching back into October.

It has been a successful campaign so far as they challenge for a place in next season’s Champions League, but Lugano will be hoping to get back to winning ways after a draw and now a defeat after returning from the break.

Luzern are heading in the right direction and have well and truly thrown their hat in the ring in the race for Europe in recent weeks. The fans at the swissporarena probably would’ve hoped for less of a rollercoaster ride having thrown away a lead at home to Zurich, beaten Basel in the last minute away from home, lost out on penalties to second-tier Thun and then earning a draw with Young Boys last time out.

The goals are certainly flowing but they might be even higher up the table if they could just keep a lid on it defensively. That being said, Luzern do have the second-best away record in the division behind YB and will make the trip to the Italian border with confidence following that creditable draw against the champions-elect.

Lugano have been a mixed bag at home, winning four, drawing one and losing four while scoring and conceding exactly fourteen and around a goal per game in each category.

Luzern have struck sixteen away from home and average close to two goals per away game, second only to YB and St. Gallen, but also concede a goal per game too, keeping only one away clean sheet all season. The last thirteen fixtures in a row between these two have ended with both teams scoring and I think that will be repeated here.

I still think there’s more to come from Vitesse now that Phillip Cocu has got his team playing better and his squad has been strengthened. What a shame though that Davy Propper (after only one game back in football following a year out) has fallen to a long-term injury keeping him out for the rest of the season.

Utrecht created lots of chances again in their win against Heerenveen, as they did in their 5-5 draw with AZ and their scrappy, narrow victory over Excelsior. Fans are more excited by their quicker attacking football, and I think it will catch Vitesse out.

In addition, Utrecht also caused a mini shock in the Dutch Cup by beating AZ in Alkmaar on Tuesday night. Clearly one of their main priorities now will be to try and win silverware in the cup competition, but this win may help inspire them to some positive results in the league also.

Utrecht are in form. Whilst I think Vitesse will pick up more points in the coming games, I think they are very unlikely to beat the side who sit amongst the top seven. Defensively, Vitesse are still prone to some shocking mistakes and are much more vulnerable than the visitors in that regard.

Facing Heerenveen in Friesland was looking like a difficult task until recently; it is now only one win in six Eredivisie matches, during which time they have failed to score in four.

Feyenoord should really be eyeing up three points in the North. In 2023, Feyenoord have drawn with Utrecht, Ajax, Twente, and PSV, which was positive to keep their unbeaten run going, especially in a run which featured some tough opposition. However, now they need to put their foot back on the gas and get the three points here.

In mid-week cup action, Heerenveen made it past the challenge of second tier NAC Breda, whilst Feyenoord showed amazing fighting spirit to come from two goals down yet again against NEC Nijmegen. Feyenoord already scraped a late 2-2 draw with PSV before their thrilling 4-4 draw with NEC (which they won on penalties).

The Rotterdam club will be without a few starting players again (Justin Bijlow, Gernot Trauner and Sebastien Skymanski are all out for a while), but Quilindschy Hartman will return at left-back. In Bijlow’s absence, we will see more of Timon Wellenreuther, a German goalkeeper who stood out for his time with Willem II.

The bottom two clubs in the Bundesliga will restart their campaigns with a bang when they go head-to-head on Sunday afternoon. Hosts Ried currently occupy 11th spot with 13 points, while bottom side Hartberg are two points adrift but would move off the foot of the table for the first time since the beginning of October with a victory.

Ried delved into the transfer market over the winter break, bringing in right-winger Aleksandar Lutovac from Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade and the experienced former Rapid shot-stopper Richard Strebinger. Hartberg were active too, signing goalkeeper Fabian Ehmann to replace long-serving custodian and club captain René Swete, who hung up his boots aged just 32 over the winter break. Right-winger Dominik Frieser also returns to the club for a third spell, following stints at Barnsley and Cesena, among others. But the biggest transfer news for Hartberg over the winter break is surely the return of club legend Markus Schopp in a dual capacity as coach and sporting director. If anyone can revive Hartberg’s fortunes, it is Schopp.

Injuries mean the Upper Austrians will be without two important players: the loss of goalkeeper Samuel Sahin-Radlinger, who has a meniscus injury, means Strebinger will likely come straight in, while central midfielder Marcel Ziegl is out too with a knee problem. The personnel situation is looking rosier in Styria, where long-term absentee Christian Klem, who has been sidelined with a knee problem since August, is the only player still in the treatment room.

You could make a case for this six-pointer going either way: Ried have never lost at home in this fixture (W3 D1), while Hartberg will be bolstered by Schopp’s return to the dugout. But whatever happens, we do expect a tight and low-scoring game: with both teams having scored only four goals in their last five league outings, our bet is on under 2.5 goals being scored in this one.

Anderlecht welcome Sint-Truiden to Lotto Park after yet another eventful week for the record champion.

President of the club Vandenhaute has received criticism in the media for taking a large wage whilst looking to make savings on transfers and player contracts. The winter transfer window can only be seen as a failure for the club. They were counting on getting at least three players through the door but missed out on securing a left-back, and they are now relying on experienced but out-of-form striker Slimani. He has scored only 1 goal in 16 appearances for Brest so far this season.

Their other acquisition, attacking midfielder Dreyer has already shown his quality though. After two late substitute appearances, he scored last time out at Ostend in a 2-0 victory. That win has lifted Anderlecht away from the relegation zone, and a win here would allow them to look up the table for the first time in a long time.

Sint-Truiden are enjoying a quiet season, which is above expectations. Relations with the ownership are strained, but their Japanese connections have provided some great talent from the country. Not every Japanese import has been a success however, former Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa exited after a disappointing six-month spell. The team’s work ethic has earned them some great victories, but they are still just outside the play-off positions.

Their defence is worthy of a much higher place in the table however, with only 25 goals conceded, good for the fourth-best record in the division, behind only the top-3 (Genk, Union and Antwerp).

Anderlecht should be on the front foot here, but like the rest of the season they will struggle to break down a very tough defence. The victories in recent weeks against Seraing and Ostend provide some hope but they are still far from a great attacking side. They have kept three clean sheets in a row, so their defence is looking much improved. Sint-Truiden will be more than happy with a draw, so we should not expect many goals.

FC Zurich continued their rise from the ashes last weekend as they picked up a second consecutive league win for the first time since May. Back then, they were being crowned champions of Switzerland. Eight months on, they are just happy to have removed themselves from the foot of the table.

It isn’t perfect, both wins came by a single goal, but Bo Henriksen’s team are now unbeaten in four and have claimed the scalps of top-half St. Gallen and Servette in the process. A side that failed to win any of their opening thirteen games and looked doomed for an unsuccessful season can probably look at a late dash for Europe with only six points between themselves and fourth.

It seems likely that the visit of Winterthur will be a clear indication as to whether or not FCZ are firmly back on track. Both sides are level at the bottom and although Winti did lose ground, they are doing their best to keep on the champion’s tail.

Unfortunately for Winti, their impressive home form can not be matched by their poor form on the road. While they won 1-0 for a fourth consecutive home match at the weekend, they have only one win away from the Schutzenwiese all season and have scored less and conceded more than any other team. It doesn’t make for good reading ahead of a trip to a resurgent FCZ.

Zurich aren’t free-scoring, but they have been getting the job done. I think they’ll pick up another win this weekend at Winterthur’s expense. Winti have a lot of heart and they’ve shown that on their own patch, but they struggle to reach those levels without the passionate home support at the Schutzenwiese.