Westerlo and Club Brugge will both be looking to pick up their first win of the new Belgian Pro League campaign when they face off at the Het Kuipje on Sunday.
The Blauw-Zwart failed to win the home and away meetings between the sides last season and will head into the weekend looking to get one over the hosts.
Match preview
© Reuters
Westerlo turned in a resilient team performance in last Saturday's league opener when they fought back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against Eupen.
In an action-packed contest at the Kehrwegstadion, Yentl Van Genechten's brace put the hosts two goals up but Nicolas Madsen and Lucas Stassin found the target to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Jonas De Roeck's men wrapped up their pre-season in style as they picked up three consecutive victories, seeing off Heerenveen, PAOK and Willem II Tilburg.
Featuring in the Pro League for the first time since 2017 last season, Westerlo picked up 51 points from 34 matches to finish seventh in the standings and qualify for the end-of-season playoffs.
However, they failed to secure European football as they lost four of their six playoff games while claiming just one win, which came on May 20, when they beat Standard Liege 3-0 on home turf.
On the other hand, Club Brugge suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of AGF in the second leg of their Europa Conference League second qualifying round clash on Thursday.
In a cagey affair at the Ceres Park Arena, former Werder Bremen defender Felix Beijmo scored the only goal of the game inside the opening three minutes to hand the hosts a narrow win.
However, a 3-0 first-leg victory in Bruges has seen Ronny Deila's men progress to the third qualifying round, where they have been drawn against Iceland-based side KA Akureyri.
The Blauw-Zwart now return to action in the Pro League, where they were denied an opening-day victory last Sunday as they played out a 1-1 draw with Mechelen at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Club Brugge will be backing themselves to get their season up and running this weekend as they take on an opposing side who have failed to win 17 of their last 18 meetings, losing 14 and claiming three draws since September 2008.
- D
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Following his impressive cameo, new signing Stassin could be rewarded with his first start, which will see striker Yusuke Matsuo sweat over his place in the XI.
Should that be the case, Stassin should team up with 25-year-old Erdon Daci in the front two, while Madsen and Mathias Fixelles are in line to retain their roles in midfield.
At the defensive end of the pitch, we expect an unchanged back four of Edisson Jordanov, Ravil Tagir, Roman Neustadter and Jordan Bos shielding Sinan Bolat in goal.
As for Club Brugge, Deila will be unable to call upon 22-year-old defender Maxim De Cuyper, who picked up a red card in the season opener against Mechelen.
In his absence, Dutch youngster Bjorn Meijer should come into the starting XI, forming the back four with Tajon Buchanan, Jorne Spileers and Brandon Mechele.
On the injury front, the Blauw-Zwart remain without the trio of Josef Bursik, Ferran Jutgla and 18-year-old forward Chemsdine Talbi, who all continue their spells on the sidelines.
Westerlo possible starting lineup:
Bolat; Jordanov, Tagir, Neustadter, Bos; Keybus, Fixelles, Madsen, Gumuskaya; Daci, Stassin
Club Brugge possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Buchanan, Spileers, Mechele, Meijer; Rits, Onyedika, Vanaken; Skoras, Nusa, Thiago
We say: Westerlo 0-2 Club Brugge
Having failed to win their last two matches across all competitions, Club Brugge will head into the weekend in search of a pick-me-up. Deila's men have enjoyed the better of this fixture, and given the gulf in quality between the two sides, we are backing them to come away with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
