Championship hopefuls Club Brugge will aim to close out the 2024-25 season with a victory when they face off against Royal Antwerp at the Jan Breydel Stadion on Sunday.
The home side will need to claim all three points to stand their best chance of snatching the title on the final day from Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, who are currently in the driving seat to edge one of the closest battles in Belgian Pro League history.
Match preview
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With little margin for error, Club Brugge claimed a commanding 3-1 victory over city rivals Anderlecht in Sunday’s Bruges derby at Lotto Park to live to fight another day in the title race and keep their ambitions alive heading into the final day.
Nicky Hayen‘s men came out firing like a team possessed and were home and dry at the interval thanks to goals from Romeo Vermant, Hans Vanaken and Christos Tzolis before Mario Stroeykens grabbed a consolation strike on the stroke of half time.
Blauw-Zwart have now won 10 of their last 12 matches across all competitions, although their only defeat in that time now looks to be a costly one to Union Saint-Gilloise one month ago which saw them relinquish top spot in the standings.
Still one point adrift of the current leaders heading into their final outing, Club Brugge can only take care of business on their own end and hope for results elsewhere to go their way if they are to end the day with a 20th league crown.
Sunday’s hosts have dominated this fixture to a large extent with six wins from the last 10 matches, and their home record against the visitors makes for even better reading, with seven wins from eight home matches since March 2021.
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Royal Antwerp had the opportunity to do Club Brugge a massive favour in their last league outing against USG, where they were trounced 4-0 for a second straight defeat at the Bosuilstadion since the start of May.
Having secured a rare clean sheet against Gent in the game prior, Andries Ulderink‘s men were undone in next to no time in their last outing, falling behind to Mohammed Fuseini‘s strike in the sixth minute, after which there was only going to be one winner.
Alongside Gent, the Reds have found results hard to come by in the Championship Round of the Pro League and sit bottom but one in the table, although their hunt for Europe just about remains alive with Conference League football still a possibility.
Off the back of a dismal title defence during the 2023-24 campaign, many had tipped Royal Antwerp to put together a much stronger showing this time around but that has hardly been the case for the 2023 champions.
Currently on a wretched run of just two wins from their last nine outings, Sunday’s visitors will now seek to conclude a largely underwhelming campaign on a high by claiming what would be a third straight victory away from home before taking on Royal Charleroi for a place in the Conference League playoffs.
Team News
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Belgian duo Hugo Siquet and Romeo Vermant are both ineligible to play any part for Club Brugge as they serve a suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Had Vermant not been suspended, he would have been a doubt to feature anyway after coming off with an injury in the final stages of the win over Anderlecht.
Twenty-year-old Kyriani Sabbe has missed each of the hosts’ last three matches due to a muscle problem and is unlikely to return to action this weekend.
Long-term Antwerp absentee Bjorn Engels is still facing an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering an Achilles tendon injury that has seen him fail to feature this term.
The visitors will also be without the services of midfielder Anthony Valencia, while Gerard Vandeplas and Orseer Achihi remain unavailable for selection here.
Club Brugge possible starting lineup:
Jackers; De Cuypers, Mechele, Ordonez, Seys; Jashari, Onyedika; Tzolis, Vanaken, Vetlessen; Nilsson
Royal Antwerp possible starting lineup:
Lammens; Deman, Odoi, Van Den Bosch, Renders; Doumbia, Praet; Balikwisha, Chery, Kerk; Bayo
We say: Club Brugge 3-1 Royal Antwerp
With so much on the line, we are expecting a big performance from the home side en route to a comfortable win come the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
