Europe

Belgian First Division Preview: Round 15

Goal.com's Gary Niblock previews the 15th round of Belgian league action...

Nov 20, 2009 11:33:22 AM

Igor De Camargo, Standard Liege/Luik (foto PROSHOTS)

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Igor De Camargo, Standard Liege/Luik (foto PROSHOTS)

Teams

Saturday

KAA Gent v Standard
Anderlecht v Roeselare
Westerlo v Lokeren
Sint Truiden v Cercle Brugge
Mouscron v Charleroi
Club Brugge v Germinal Beerschot

Sunday

Zulte Waregem v KV Mechelen
Kortrijk v Racing Genk

KAA Gent-Standard

A sold out Jules Ottenstadion will see its second big game in a week as the champions Standard Liege travel to Gent to face their title-winning coach Michel Preud’homme.

Both sides go into this game on the back of important league wins before the international break, Gent in Charleroi, and Standard in the table-topping clash against Club Brugge.

Gent will be looking to consolidate their place in the top six, whilst Les Rouches in third spot aim to keep up the pressure on Anderlecht and Club Brugge.

The major doubts for the Buffaloes are left-back Kenny Thompson, attacker Stijn de Smet and Adekambi Olufade. Christophe Lepoint is fit.

Though Standard have been somewhat decimated through injury, coach, Boloni Laszlo will not risk star striker Igor De Camargo, who was unable to turn out for Belgium due to a persistent toe problem. Though central defender Mohamed Sarr also misses out, Wilfried Dalmat faces a late fitness test to determine his participation.

The man to watch will be Milan Jovanovic, the league’s top scorer with nine goals. His whose crucial brace put Club Brugge to the sword in Sclessin in Round 14.

Prediction: Gent looked good against Charleroi, with runners from midfield and movement among the strikers, but the reigning title holders should have too much for the home side. 1-2

Anderlecht v Roeselare

This match brings together the top and bottom sides in the league, with Paars-Wit looking to make sure they don’t relinquish first place.

Les Mauves recorded a routine 2-0 win in Genk and sit two points clear of Brugge and seven ahead of Standard.

Although 22 points separate these two teams, Roeselare will go in to the game with some confidence from their surprising 2-0 win against in-form Zulte Waregem.

RSCA again have doubts over the fitness of Hungarian centre-back Juhasz Roland, who was the victim of a hard tackle in training from Arnold Kruiswijk, but star player Mbark Boussoufa managed to shake off a knock to his knee.

All eyes will be on Romelu Lukaku after his non-call up to the national side. Don’t bet against a goal from the young sensation.

For Roeselare, Samir El Gaaouiri and Arne Vanneste are doubts but should play. Damir Mirvic has returned from international duty fully fit.

Prediction: Roeselare to give a spirited account of themselves, but RSCA to coast home in the end. 3-0

Westerlo v Lokeren

Twelfth placed Westerlo will be looking to channel their last-minute heartbreak against Cercle Brugge into three points at home to fellow strugglers Lokeren, whose scoreless draw with Kortrijk was most certainly not one for the footballing purist.

The away side are sitting second bottom, just two points off the basement and need to improve on their away record this season, which has seen them win just one from six, with five defeats.

Westerlo will be thankful that their loanee from Anderlecht, Oleksandr Yakovenko, has recovered from a hamstring injury and will line up alongside Adnan Mravac, who was in the Bosnian squad for the World Cup play-offs. Rachid Farssi is doubtful with a groin strain.

Lokeren have concerns over Tiko and Mario Carevic, who are in light training, but goalkeeper Copa should take his place in goal. Dieter Dekelver is the top scorer from either side with five goals this term and he’s the man to watch.

Prediction: The creative presence of Yakovenko allied to Lokeren’s miserable away record leads me to predict a home win. 2-0.

Sint Truiden v Cercle Brugge

As the weeks roll on, Sint-Truiden continue to fall faster than a stone, and their supporters aren’t the only ones wondering where their next win will come from. Though they led in Antwerp against GBA, it proved to be a false dawn as the home side replied in kind with four secon -half goals.

A sense of perspective is needed; they’re still in ninth place and one point above this weekend’s opponents, who will be on a high after their aforementioned dramatic win last time out against Westerlo.

Defender Vincent Euvrard will line up for De Kanaries against his old side, who will have to make do without Zimbabwean midfielder Honour Gombami, whose knee injury has forced him to go under the knife.

The player to watch is Belgian-Ukrainian midfielder Oleg Iachtchouk, who can turn a game at any given moment and will have to be stifled if STVV want anything from this game.

Prediction: It’s difficult to see Sint-Truiden outscoring Cercle, who should have too much quality not to take all three points. 1-2.

Mouscron v Charleroi

The home side are happy just to be able to continue to fulfil their fixtures as the storm clouds surrounding the future of the club show no sign of disappearing. Nevertheless, they pulled off a terrific 1-0 win in Mechelen in their last fixture thanks to a goal from Spanish midfielder Jonathan Aspas, moving them up to 13th place.

Excelsior will have to do without former Anderlecht midfielder Walter Baseggio, who has a calf injury, but could welcome back Jonathan Walasiak and Bahrainian striker Jaycee, who has been one of the surprise packages of the season with six goals.

Things go from bad to worse for Les Zebres, who can have no complaints following their 2-0 home defeat to Gent but will be spurred on by pride in this Walloon derby, should it indeed go ahead. Striker Cyril Thereau was absent from training with a sore throat and he’ll be missed should he fail to recover in time. Keep an eye on Geoffrey Mujangi Bia, a Belgian Under-21 international who was their brightest spark against Gent.

Prediction: I think this one is a shoot-out of the hitmen – Thereau (if he plays) and Jaycee. They will cancel each other out. 1-1

Club Brugge v Germinal Beerschot

One of the two stand-out fixtures of the week sees second placed Club Brugge lock horns with Germinal Beerschot, who are somewhat of a surprise package in fourth.

Blauw-Zwart were quite simply outclassed in Liege and may have spent too much time listening to Standard trainer Boloni proclaiming them already as possible champions.

The big footballing story in Brugge this week was the demotion of Moroccan midfielder Nabil Dirar to the reserves for bad timekeeping, in an incident which echoed the Vincent Kompany affair that affected the national team. Former West Bromwich Albion right-back Carl Hoefkens also will have to sit this one out, but Ivan Perisic has recovered from a slight ankle problem.

Their opponents from Antwerp will have been buoyed by their ruthless second-half display against Sint-Truiden, where they quite simply took their hapless opponents to the sword.

Faris Haroun will be available to play after he returned to training, but Kurt van Dooren and Gyan King are still out of action.

The man to look out for is inevitably Bart Goor. who continues to dazzle and refuses to give in to the temptation of retirement. He extended his contract this week until the end of the following season.

Prediction: Club Brugge are unbeaten at the Jan Breydelstadion this season and whilst GBA are very strong at home, I can’t see them getting anything out of this encounter. 3-1

Zulte Waregem v KV Mechelen

It may be slightly harsh to state that both these sides have overachieved this season, but they will most certainly want to bounce back from their defeats in Round 14, to Roeselare and Mouscron respectively.

Home outfit Essevee have few worries ahead of this match and can count on stopper Sammy Bossut to be their last line of defence. Only Stijn Meert and Thomas Matton are unavailable for a team whom opposing gaffer Peter Maes thinks have an outside shot at the title.

Mechelen have no injury problems but will be hoping their goalscoring trio of Julien Gorius, David Destorme and Ernst Nfor can get back on the scoresheet - the side has drawn a blank in each of its last three games.

My player to watch is home captain Ludwin Van Nieuwenhuyze, whose inspirational leadership could prove the difference in what looks set to be a closely contested game.

Prediction: Two decent sides, despite Mechelen’s scoreless streak, but home advantage may be the deciding factor. 2-1.

Kortrijk v Racing Genk

Kortrijk find themselves punching above their weight so far this season and, although they were disappointing in a goalless draw in Lokeren, they do surprisingly sit two places and a point above their more illustrious opponents.

Genk will be disappointed to find themselves in tenth spot. They never seriously threatened Anderlecht in their previous game but with quality players such as Thomas Buffel, Elyaniv Barda and Joao Carlos, they’ll be looking to haul themselves into contention for a top six place.

Kortrijk will be without Mladen Lazarevic, who is recovering from a back problem, and Damien Lahaye is still out of contention.

Genk have a few doubts over Joao Carlos, Marvin Ogunjimi, Toth Balazs, Moussa Koita and Erik Matoukou.

Strangely, De Smurfen are much better away from the Cristal Arena and will fancy their chances here against a side who have already suffered three home defeats.

Genk badly need a regular goalscorer and so the man to watch is Thomas Buffel as he seeks to persuade national-team coach Dick Advocaat that he has a role to play in the new era for the Belgian side.

Prediction: Kortrijk are unbeaten in five matches and with Genk possibly missing some key men, I think they’ll keep the run going with another win. 2-0.

Gary Niblock, Goal.com

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