We conclude playday six in play-off 1 with a classic. Club Brugge receives the rival from Anderlecht in the Jan Breydel stadium. Will Club continue to compete for the title? Or can Anderlecht leave behind all the concerns of the last few weeks?
Club Bruges:
Club Brugge after the 0-0 draw on the field of Antwerp yesterday afternoon a six-point deficit against leader KRC Genk. The blue-blacks will have to do a vigor to catch up with the Limburgers. A unique force tour, because it never happened in the previous nine editions that a team was six points behind after five match days and still became champion. The biggest backlog that was picked up after five match days was that of Anderlecht on Standard in 2014. The Purple & White then made up for four points to eventually take the title two points ahead.
Club had the difficult move to Antwerp last weekend. A real do-or-die competition. It could have been completely different if the referee and the VAR had put the ball on the stop after three minutes of play. Jelle Van Damme clearly committed a foul on Loic Openda. Afterwards there was a lot of fighting but little football. Club could not play its game from the first three games. The dreaded flanks were restrained in a row for the second game.
Club is no longer in control and has to hope for gifts. And there is also that home game on May 12. “What does this mean now? That we have to catch up with six points, doesn’t it, “says Hans Vanaken dryly. “And in the meantime, we also have to hope that Genk sometimes fails. That is the only thing that keeps our title chances intact. But above all we just have to win competitions ourselves and not be busy with other things. As long as we can, we must believe in it. ”
KV Anderlecht :
An Anderlecht fan nowadays has to be satisfied with the surpluses. Also against AA Gent the football of RSCA was not (yet) good, but the supporters focused on the input of the youth, which resulted in more fighting spirit and finally a point. However, the problems do not seem to stop with purple and white. This week, the public prosecutor invaded the club in search of documents about the transfer from Aleksander Mitrovic to Newcastle. So it doesn’t seem to stop this season ..
Last weekend, the game between Anderlecht and Ghent was one between two teams that couldn’t score a single point in these play-offs. Anderlecht had the most ball possession but couldn’t do much with it. Fortunately, Ghent did not handle the counter-attack space well. A ball by Yari Verschaeren on the crossbar could have resulted in the victory, but Ghent also had an excellent opportunity in which goalkeeper Thomas Didillon had more luck than skill.
The Brussels goals have been adjusted. Europe is no longer even spoken of. “We must try to be even sharper in Play-off 1,” said Yannick Bolasie. Sven Kums added: “It’s a bad season anyway, isn’t it. Saving our season won’t work anymore. But we still want to score as many points as possible. With Karim Belhocine we have a coach who talks a lot with us, motivates us and knows every player well. “The players are therefore close to Belhocine, the supporters are still in doubt.
PREDICTION: Club Brugge KV to win @ 1,52
