Europe

Belgian First Division Preview: Round 16

This week sees the beginning of the 'return round' as every team has now played each other once.

Nov 27, 2009 3:00:23 PM

Romelu Lukaku, Anderlecht (foto PROSHOTS)

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Romelu Lukaku, Anderlecht (foto PROSHOTS)

Teams

Friday

Anderlecht v Kortrijk

Saturday

Westerlo v KV Mechelen
Mouscron v KRC Genk
KAA Gent v Cercle Brugge
Club Brugge v Charleroi
Germinal Beerschot v Roeselare

Sunday

Zulte Waregem v Lokeren
Sint-Truiden v Standard Liege

Anderlecht v Kortrijk

This round kicks off with the clash of two in-form sides, table toppers Anderlecht and eighth placed Kortrijk who are unbeaten in their last six matches.

The Brussels side won’t be able to call upon star player Mbark Boussoufa this week, as he is serving a suspension for an unnecessary red card last week against Roeselare. Paars-Wit have no problems up top however and coach Ariel Jacobs will have plenty of confidence in Romelu Lukaku and Tom de Sutter to get the goals.

Davy Schollen may be a doubt for the bench but former FC Brussels goalkeeper Michael Cordier is also named in the squad as cover. Hungarian defender Juhasz Roland has recovered from a trapped nerve and will take his place in the home backline. Former Willem II midfielder Mo Messoudi makes his first start tonight for Kortrijk however Ibou is out for three weeks with ankle ligament damage and Mladen Lazarevic and Damien Lahaye aren’t fully fit.

Despite the healthy state in which Kortrijk find themselves, they will also be playing against history as they have never won away to Anderlecht. The man to watch is Tom de Sutter who impressed last week and will be looking to exploit his height advantage over the Kortrijk centre-back pairing.

Prediction: Kortrijk have only drawn four times away to Anderlecht but without Boussoufa, they might just sneak a fifth tonight. 2-2.

Westerlo v KV Mechelen

Tenth placed Westerlo will have been mightily relieved to have taken all three points in their previous game against Lokeren and will be looking to build some momentum against their opponents who have yet to draw a game this season.

Whilst Mechelen sit in seventh, they have been struggling of late, with their failure to put the ball in the back of the net enabling their rivals to leapfrog them in recent weeks. They will take heart from their 1-0 victory last year though the home supporters would dearly love a repeat of the 8-0 drubbing in April 2000.

De Kempenaren will be pleased that their main creative force Oleksandr Iakovenko has recovered from his toe infection and Peruvian defender Nelinho Quina is also clear to play. Meanwhile, Malinwa are without Antonio Ghomsi who will visit a specialist on Monday but Jonas Ivens looks to have recovered from a hamstring injury.

Westerlo are an ambitious club and are still holding out hopes for the top six and a win this weekend in het Kuipje will see them climb alongside their opponents. My player to watch is Aloys Nong, who will be hungry for goals after a recent mini-slump in form.

Prediction: These are two fairly even sides and though Westerlo are in better form, KVM will think they can capitalise on a potentially vulnerable home defence. 2-2

Mouscron v KRC Genk

Things took a turn for the better for Mouscron this week as it emerged the club may be kept afloat by a consortium of Danish investors. Their recent good form will have done their cause no harm and indeed it could be said that the off-field problems have galvanised the team on the pitch.

Les Frontaliers, so named as they come from the border between Belgium’s two main regions Flanders and Wallonia, romped to a comprehensive 4-1 win against struggling Charleroi last time out and will see Genk as there for the taking. Much of their recent success has been built on Bahrainian hitman Jaycee but he sat out training as a precaution as he is carrying a slight thigh strain. Defender Alexandre Teklak and goalkeeper Cedric Berthelin also skipped training but Walter Baseggio did feature.

Genk have been hit by a public spat between their young chairman Herbert Houben and manager Hein Vanhaezebrouck. The chairman showed his naivety, not just by publicly criticising the admittedly underperforming Vanhaezebrouck but then blurting out that he had contacted four managers, each of whom had criticised the club’s 3-4-3 system.

A surprised Vanhaezebrouck hit back, calling for unity within the club as the best way to lift De Smurfen out of their slump. Star player Thomas Buffel backed the formation and laid the blame squarely at the feet of the players who need to be more clinical when presented with chances to score. The Belgian international may have to fire his side to victory without Israeli attacker Elyaniv Barda and Brazilian centre-back Joao Carlos who are doubtful.

Former Lierse, AZ and Twente striker Stein Huysegems has resumed training and may get the chance he has been pleading for. I’m not nominating a player to look out for here, rather the Genk trainer Hein Vanhaezebrouck, to see if he sticks to his guns in playing his beloved 3-4-3 formation.

Prediction: Genk have done themselves no favours by airing their dirty laundry in public and their approach is in sharp contrast to how Mouscron have dealt with adversity. I’m going for a home win. 2-1.

KAA Gent v Cercle Brugge

Not overly fussed by the TV-scandal surrounding him, Gent manager Michel Preud’Homme will be confident of a third straight win for his improving side. Having now climbed back into the top six, De Buffalo’s will have last week’s opponents Standard in their sights who sit in fourth spot.

Slovenian World Cup-bound defender Marko Suler is over his illness and is back in training. Furthermore, Kenny Thompson is back from a knee injury and Bosnian striker Adnan Custovic, so impressive against the Landskampioen last week has overcome a back problem. However, the game comes too soon for attacker Stijn de Smet and Brazilian defender Antonio Duarte who are struggling with hamstring and abdominal injuries respectively.

Cercle are treading water at the moment and they currently sit in 12th place. They will be looking over their shoulder at the danger of relegation. Glen de Boeck and his side make the short trip to Oost-Vlaanderen without five first-team players, namely Honour Gombami, Jelle Vossen, Hans Cornelis, Tony Sergeant and Wang Yang.

The absences leave the midfield particularly weak and Cercle will have to be particularly wary of Gent’s strikeforce who have prospered in recent games despite the goal drought of Zlatan Ljubijankic. The player to watch is Gent’s in form French midfielder Christophe Lepoint, who does a good job of supporting the front three.

Prediction: A Cercle side decimated with injury will be swamped by Gent’s wealth of attacking options. 4-0.

Club Brugge v Charleroi

Two games are a long time in football as Club Brugge will testify. Two successive defeats, first in Liege and then secondly in the dying moments against Germinal Beerschot have left Adrie Koster’s troops five points off Anderlecht. Blauw-Zwart will be happy though that they are facing Charleroi in front of what will be a packed Jan Breydelstadion.

Les Zebres crashed to a 4-1 defeat in Mouscron in what proved to be a baptism of fire for newly-installed Scottish manager Tommy Craig. To further add to Brugge’s grounds for optimism, Paraguayan defender Antonio Alcaraz has been handed a two match suspension from the KBVB.

This writer almost choked on his cereal when he read of English interest in the centre-back who has been hapless of late. Midfielder Vadis Odjidja and right-back Carl Hoefkens come into contention for the home side and no doubt add quality to the title contenders from West Vlaanderen, as does Nabil Dirar who has seen out his one week demotion to the second string.

Charleroi will still be without Peter Franquart who still has to serve one game of his suspension and Adlene Guedioura but Mohamed Chakouri and Omanian international Imad Al-Hosny are available as is topscorer Cyril Thereau, who has eight goals this term. The player to watch is Brugge’s Venezuelan midfielder Vargas who not only has four goals this season but also leads his side in assists.

Prediction: Club will get back on track against a demoralised Charleroi who should have no answer to Brugge’s array of goalscoring options. 3-0.

Germinal Beerschot v Roeselare

The surprise packages of the season hailing from the port city of Antwerpen made club history by winning away to Club Brugge last week. They are a side with a number of quality players, notably Faris Haroun and Bart Goor, but last week’s win also showed a healthy team spirit and that GBA keep going until the final whistle meaning they’re almost always in the game.

De Ratten deserve their third place standing and look good to feature in the end of season Championship play-offs. Roeselare meanwhile are now bringing up the rear with just 10 points and won’t be relishing this very tricky away game, especially as they’ve yet to pick up an away win all season. The home side’s captain and central defender Kurt van Dooren returned to training on Tuesday but isn’t fully recovered and they will also have to do without midfielder King Osei Gyan.

For Roeselare, whilst Moroccan midfielder Samir El Gaaouiri isn’t in the match squad and Stefan Nikolic is suspended, Dutch defender Arturo ten Heuvel is fit. This could be a feisty encounter with former Roeselare players Paul Kpaka, Sherjill McDonald and the Monteyne brothers lining up for GBA. However my player to watch is Tosin Dosunmu who looks rejuvenated and will be fancying adding to his tally for the season against Roeselare.

Prediction: Germinal Beerschot are on a roll and Roeselare’s problems will be compounded with another setback in Antwerpen. 3-0.

Zulte Waregem v Lokeren

If Germinal Beerschot are the surprise of this season’s heenronde, Zulte Waregem aren’t too far behind and recorded a hugely impressive 4-1 victory against fellow sub-toppers KV Mechelen last week. Once again in front of their home crowd, they will be aiming to increase the problems for Lokeren gaffer Jacky Mathijssen whose side sit one place off the bottom in 15th with just 12 points to their name.

Essevee will stick with Danish midfielder Stefan Ernemann, who was outstanding last week, scoring two goals in the process. Indeed, the biggest problem for coach Francky Dury is that four of his players, including captain Ludwin van Nieuwenhuyze and striker Ernst Nfor are one caution away from a suspension that would mean missing next week’s derby against Kortrijk. Lokeren have more than their fair share of injury problems. Goalkeeper Boubacar Copa has undergone an operation on his foot and is joined on the absentee list by Hassan El Mouataz, Marcel Mbayo, Mario Carevic, Nill de Pauw and Tiko.

In addition, experienced Croatian striker Tomo Sokota is doubtful with sickness as is Sulejman Smajic and Ahmed Toure is suspended. The player to watch is Ernemann as he looks to follow up last week’s virtuoso performance and prove that his two-goal showing was no flash in the pan. If the away side are to have any chance, they will need their Syrian topscorer Sanrahib Malki to pounce on any chances that may come his way.

Prediction: Lokeren’s already fragile squad is almost at a breaking point and Waregem look a very good unit. Three more points for Essevee. 2-0

Sint-Truiden v Standard Liege

De Kanaries finally stopped the rot with a confidence-boosting home draw against Cercle Brugge but they couldn’t have asked for a much more difficult game to build on that result as they host wounded champions Standard. STVV have done well to finish the first-half of the season in ninth but their success had been built more on their impressive away form.

Visiting manager Boloni Laszlo has seen his young charges outclassed by Arsenal and outplayed by Gent in the space of the past week and will be demanding they don’t slip up here. The home side may call on defender Jonathan Wilmet and Senegalese forward Sebastien Siani. Standard meanwhile make the trip north without one of their brilliant striking triumvirate – Congolese forward Dieumerci Mbokani who is out for 2-3 weeks however Milan Jovanovic should take his place in the starting line up after being rested for the Champions League game in order to prevent his toe injury from flaring up any further.

Naturalised Belgian Igor de Camargo should also make his comeback along with Mohamed Sarr who has stated that his side miss the leadership of current centre-back Oguchi Onyewu. Midfielder Axel Witsel should also overcome a foot problem. Though he’s hit out at the media for getting on his back despite his excellent goalscoring form, all eyes will be on Serbian striker Milan Jovanovic, topscorer in Belgium with nine goals as he tries to kick-start Standard’s season after a disappointing first half.

Prediction: Standard are slowly but surely welcoming back the big guns and Sarr’s presence will add much needed leadership and solidity to the side. 1-2.

Gary Niblock, Goal.com

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