Beerschot - Club: the Club Facts

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This is the 158th confrontation with Beerschot in First Division. The 78 previous away matches against the Rats ended in 21 wins (last time 1-7 on 09/12/2012), 16 draws (last time 1-1 on 02/10/2011) and 41 defeats (last time 2-1 on 25/09/2010). This is the duel between the best scoring home team (25 goals for Beerschot) and the best scoring away team (24 goals for Club). In the outward match, Club Brugge went down 0-1 at home against Beerschot VA. Noubissi set up Raphael Holzhauser for the opening goal.

Club is unbeaten against purple and white for 2 away matches in a row. The last time Club lost there was on September 25, 2010 (2-1). Philippe Clement then played for the home team. It was the last season of his playing career. In the past 4 away matches with Beerschot, Club was able to score each time.

Since the first meeting on August 23, Club Brugge reinforced themselves with the Dutch trio Noa Lang, Bas Dost and Stefano Denswil. At Beerschot, since the outing, goalkeeper Wouter Biebauw and midfielders Ismaila Coulibaly [Sheffield United FC], Keres Masangu [AS Roma] and George Broadbent [Sheffield United FC] joined the nucleus.

THE OPPONENT

After 20 playing days, Beerschot is 7th in the Jupiler Pro League standings. The First Class B champion had a great start to the season and was even in the lead for several match days. Lately, the Rats' form has slowed down a bit. They have been unable to win 6 league matches in a row. The game with Club is already the 3rd game of 2021 for Beerschot. It is also their 3rd home match in a row. The previous 2 matches each time ended in a 1-1 draw. Both against AA Gent and Cercle Brugge, Beerschot gave away a lead.

Hernan Losada's team already reached 20-30 on home soil this season. They won against Zulte Waregem (3-1), KRC Genk (5-2), Waasland-Beveren (3-2), STVV (6-3), OHL (4-2) and Anderlecht (2-1) and drew against AA Gent (1-1 and Cercle Brugge (1-1). Only against Standard (0-3) and Eupen (0-1) did the club have to lose.

Second in the final standings of the Golden Shoe, Raphael Holzhauser, is still Beerschot's most important player. The Austrian midfielder was already involved in 21 goals (11 goals and 10 assists). No one in First Division does better. Losada cannot count on Ryan Sanusi. The Belgian with Nigerian roots ran into his 5th yellow card of the season on Wednesday. It will be only the 2nd match the defensive midfielder is missing this season at Beerschot.

Goalkeeper Mike Vanhamel is 1 of 5 players in the JPL who have not missed a minute, along with Dorian Dessoleil (Sporting Charleroi), Hervé Koffi (Excel Mouscron), Arnaud Bodart (Standard Liege) and Guillaume Hubert (KV Oostende). Beerschot could only keep a clean sheet once this season. Precisely at Jan Breydel they managed to do so. The team from the Kiel already conceded 42 goals, the highest number of goals against in the Jupiler Pro League. Moreover, Beerschot is the only club of which no player got a red card this season. They did receive 7 penalties, the highest number in the Jupiler Pro League.

TOUGH FIGURES

In the last 17 away matches in the Jupiler Pro League, Club lost only once (10 wins and 6 draws). Of all the top 10 leagues in Europe, only 7 clubs have collected more points on the road this season.
1. FC Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr) 18 out of 18 (100%)
2. Manchester United FC (Eng) 22 out of 24 (91.7%)
.. AC Milan (Ita) 22 out of 24 (91.7%) .
4. Sporting Clube de Portugal (Por) 19 out of 21 (90.5%)
5. Leicester City FC (Eng) 22 out of 27 (81.5%)
6. Feyenoord (Ned) 19 out of 24 (79.2%)
7. Vit. Guimaraes (Por) 14 in 18 (77.8%)
8. Club Brugge KV (Bel) 23 out of 30 (76.7%)

Krépin Diatta is still top shooter at Club with 9 goals. Noa Lang (6 goals) is closing in on him though after 3 goals in the last 2 games.

Clinton Mata can play the 70th league match of his career. For Eduard Sobol and Simon Deli, it could be the 40th league match.

THE REFEREE

Lothar D'Hondt was designated ref for the game between Beerschot and Club. The 26-year-old ref whistles a Club Brugge game for the 6th time. The 3 previous away games under his guidance were all won by Club. D'Hondt is whistling a game between the two teams for the first time. Earlier this season, D'Hondt whistled Club Brugge's home game against KV Kortrijk (1-0) and Beerschot's away game at KAA Gent (5-1).

OTHER MATCHES THIS MATCHDAY

Fri 15/01 20:45 KAS Eupen - RSC Anderlecht
Sat 16/01 16:15 KV Oostende - KV Kortrijk
Sat 16/01 18:30 R. Excel Mouscron - KRC Genk
Sat 16/01 18:30 KV RS Waasland-SK Beveren - SV Zulte Waregem
Sat 16/01 20:45 Sp. du Pays de Charleroi - YR KV Mechelen
Sun 17/01 13:30 KAA Gent - R. Antwerp FC
Sun 17/01 16:00 Cercle Brugge KSV - R. Standard de Liège
Sun 17/01 20:45 K. Sint-Truidense VV - Oud-Heverlee Leuven