Eupen and Antwerp will close Sunday’s match day one of the new season. Can Eupen again run a carefree season? And what about the ambitious team from Antwerp? Will they again get play-off 1?
Eupen:
No more Luis Garcia and perhaps no longer Hendrik Van Crombrugge on Kehrweg. KAS Eupen will have to make it this season without the two figures who have kept them on board at the highest level in the previous three seasons. A very serious loss, but with Eupen they seem to have realized the seriousness of the situation in time. Over the past fourteen days, the club has thoroughly strengthened itself on all lines and has some notable names such as Andreas Beck (former German international), Carlos Embalo (still in focus at Juventus in 2016) and Ortwin De Wolf (first goalkeeper of the Belgian U21) to convince them to continue their careers in the East Cantons.
Another new face at the Pandas is that of the Spanish coach Beñat San José Gil. 39 years young, but already the proud owner of four shining club trophies in his prize cabinet. He won the King’s Cup in 2013 with the Saudi Al-Ittihad. National titles followed in South America later with Bolivar (Bolivia) and Universidad Catolica (Chile). The man therefore knows his world, his profession and his languages and wants to serve attractive football again with Eupen. Forget Claude Makélélé’s boring, stiff and physical relegation football. The club consciously chooses the attack as the best defense against relegation.
As a newcomer to the Belgian league, the Eupense coach San José respects the prediction before the season. “But we will try to do better than the predicted thirteenth place,” he responds with a smile. “Of course, the results from the past also play a part in your prediction. This season we are building a new team at Eupen that hopefully may aim a little higher than a thirteenth place. It is up to us to prove on the field that we are capable of that. With the support of our fans, we must succeed. ”
Antwerp:
Last season, Antwerp qualified for Play-off 1 and the Europa League. It will be quite a task to repeat that, given the current doubts. The season was perfectly started because the board managed to convince Dieumerci Mbokani to stay an extra year. In the meantime we are a month and a half further and coach Laszlo Bölöni is worried. Bölöni screams for offensive reinforcement. An important role was reserved for Lamkel Zé, but in the meantime he made himself so impossible that a return to the A-core is gradually becoming a utopia.
It is only one of the concerns, because the back is also rough. The big problem is that the strong central duo is gone. Dino Arslanagic is still out for a while, Jelle Van Damme surprisingly did not get a new contract. It is hoped for Antwerp that it will not regret it. With Junior Pius there was a powerhouse in its place, but he still has to prove it. In addition, Simen Juklerod is still waiting for a competitor on the left and goalkeeper Sinan Bolat is mice about a transfer or an extended stay.
What Antwerp did cleverly was to catch up on good Belgian feet. Sander Coopman wanted it for a while and Alexis De Sart came over for free from STVV. It is now up to them to convince Bölöni to opt for more footballing abilities. Finally, Hairemans also hardly had any opportunities last season. Laszlo Bölöni naturally wants to equal fourth place of last season, or even do better. But he also knows that confirmation is not obvious. “We had a steep progression, it is quite possible that we will now have a less successful season. There is no shame about that, “he said.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,64
