After securing their first domestic trophy in club history last season, RWD Molenbeek will open their Belgian Pro League campaign by hosting Genk for the first time this Saturday at Edmond Machtens Stadium in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.
In 2022-23, Molenbeek captured the Challenger Pro League and a promotion into the top flight, finishing a point above Beveren in the table, while KRC were moments away from winning the Belgian Pro League last season, conceding an injury-time goal to Royal Antwerp in a 2-2 draw, as they were edged out by a single point in the playoffs.
Match preview
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It has been a long journey of ups and downs for a Molenbeek club that was originally founded in 1951 before folding and merging with another team in 2015.
A season ago, they earned their spot into the top flight with a splendid second half campaign, winning their final six matches in the Challenger Pro League while dropping points in only two of their 10 playoff fixtures.
Ahead of their first Belgian Pro League campaign, the club brought in a man with plenty of top-flight success as a player, naming Claudio Cacapa as the new manager, a former defender who helped Lyon to six successive Ligue 1 titles in the 2000s and most recently was the caretaker boss at Botafogo, who are currently first in the Brasileiro Serie A campaign.
Entering a new domestic season against a group of experienced top-flight Belgian squads, we can expect this team to rely on a solid backline early on, as they ended the previous campaign with the fewest goals conceded (29).
This team took full advantage of their raucous home crowd throughout 2022-23, suffering only one defeat total in the Challenger Pro League campaign and playoffs at Edmond Machtens Stadium.
Molenbeek have not beaten a team currently in the Belgian top flight since coming back to defeat Westerlo (KVC) 2-1 in February 2021 when both sides were in the second tier, though they were 21 minutes away from upsetting Kortrijk in the sixth round of the Belgian Cup last season before conceding twice and falling 2-1 versus the club from West Flanders, who made it all the way to the quarter-finals of that tournament.
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Following one of the craziest finishes to a top-flight campaign, Genk will enter the new Pro League season with some unfinished business.
Only a 94-minute strike from veteran Royal Antwerp defender Toby Alderweireld prevented them from claiming a fifth domestic title, as the club from the province of Limburg drew that final encounter and had to settle for being the runners-up for the second time in the past three league campaigns.
Under the guidance of former midfielder Wouter Vrancken, Genk only suffered five defeats in the 2022-23 domestic campaign, the fewest for them in the regular season since only losing three times in the 2018-19 regular season, en route to winning the championship.
Three of their five regular-season defeats in 2022-23 came away from home, while they squandered a 1-0 advantage on the road to Antwerp in the playoffs, falling 2-1, a result which, looking back, could have given them the league crown had they won or drawn that match.
Last season, Racing possessed the most dynamic attack in all of Belgium, leading the Pro League with 78 goals in the regular season, with three players netting 10 or more times.
Earlier this week, they were 13 minutes away from defeating Servette in the opening leg of that third-round qualifying Champions League fixture played in Geneva, ultimately settling for a 1-1 draw.
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Team News
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Kylian Hazard, the younger brother of Eden Hazard and Thorgan Hazard, could miss the opening match for Molenbeek as he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture earlier this month, while their new signing Abner and 2022 loanee Alexis de Sart were in the starting 11 when they defeated Lyon 1-0 in a friendly last Sunday.
Abner is one of many newcomers who has transferred to the Brussels side this month, along with Shuto Abe, who joined them from FC Tokyo in the J1 League, Xavier Mercier signed from Ferencvaros in Hungary this week, while De Sart and Pierre Dwomoh missed the Antwerp title victory a season ago as they were both out on loan.
Mickael Biron had 16 goals for them in the previous campaign, while a 68th-minute strike from Zakaria El Ouahdi gave them a victory against Olympique Lyonnais last week, with Theo Defourny stopping five shots for the clean sheet.
Vrancken inserted an entirely different Genk starting 11 for their qualifying fixture this week against Servette compared to the team that began their previous encounter versus Burnley, as new signings Joris Kayembe and Alieu Fadera were in the opening lineup on Tuesday.
Tolu Arokodare had the only goal for Genk in that draw versus Servette, his second in the last two games after he and Yira Sor netted in a 2-0 victory over Burnley as Maarten Vandevoordt and Hendrik Van Crombrugge combined to collect a clean sheet on that occasion.
Last season, Mike Tresor recorded an incredible 24 assists in the domestic campaign, more than anyone in the top 10 European leagues, while Joseph Paintsil led them with 17 goals and will be expected to contribute more after Paul Onuachu signed with Southampton in the Championship after netting 16 times with the club in 2022-23.
RWD Molenbeek possible starting lineup:
Defourny; Heris, Le Joncour, Abner; El Ouahdi, De Sart, Romildo, Mercier; Rikelmi, Biron, Dailly
Genk possible starting lineup:
Vandervoort; Munoz, Cuesta, McKenzie, Kayembe; Mohammed, Hrosovsky; Paintsill, El Khannouss, Tresor; Arokodare
We say: RWD Molenbeek 0-1 Genk
Molenbeek have made many intelligent moves, adding some experienced top-flight players, and those additions, along with a solid defensive shape, should make them a difficult side to break down this season.
However, Genk have plenty of attacking pieces to count upon, and their continuity and quality should be able to find a breakthrough eventually in a stadium which can be intimidating for visiting teams.
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