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Club - Antwerp: The Club Facts

Jupiler Pro League

Club Facts

After the win against Greek PAOK on Thursday, it's time for league soccer again this weekend. Read all about the match against Antwerp in the Club Facts!

The match

On the second matchday of the Champions' Play-Offs, Club achieved a magnificent 3-1 home victory against RSC Anderlecht. With 4 out of 6, FCB can thus look back on a successful start the final round. That makes it the 4thtime Blauw-Zwart took 4 points after 2 playing days in the play-offs.

Brandon Mechele scored his 6th goal of the season last weekend. Never before has he been as hit as he is now. For Raphael Onyedika, it was his2nd league goal. Club managed to score each of the past 15 home games.

On Sunday, Club plays at home for the third time in a row. It will also be the 173rd time that the duel between Club and Antwerp, or the two oldest clubs in the Jupiler Pro League, will take place. The previous 86 home games against RAFC ended in 51 wins, 17 draws and 18 defeats.

Club and Antwerp will face each other in the playoffs for the 5th time at Jan Breydel on Sunday. The previous 4 home duels Club were all able to win. Last season Club won at home in the playoffs from RAFC 2-0.

Maxim De Cuyper is the assist king at Blauw-Zwart with 7, Igor Thiago the top shooter with 16 goals. Nordin Jackers, Brandon Mechele, Raphael Onyedika, Joel Ordóñez and Igor Thiago did not miss a minute yet this season in the playoffs.

In the previous home match against Antwerp, Hans Vanaken was able to score his 8th goal against Antwerp. If he succeeds again on Sunday, he joins Jan Ceulemans, Raoul Lambert and Gert Verheyen who scored the most often against The Great Old with 9 goals.

Raphael Onyedika must avoid a yellow card to avoid missing the move to Union. His tally stands at 2 yellow cards.

The opponent

On the opening day of the playoffs, The Great Old lost 1-0 on the field of RSC Anderlecht. On the second day of play, it lost 0-1 to KRC Genk at home. RAFC is only the second team in the history of the playoffs to collect 0 points and 0 goals in its first 2 matches (after KV Oostende in 2015-16).

Antwerp is the team that, after Club Brugge (14 seasons), has the longest continuous participation in Play-Off 1. Since 2019, this is their 5th consecutive participation.

Antwerp's top shooter is Vincent Janssen with 10 goals. The Dutchman was able to score 2 times against Club in the past, each time in the 2022-2023 season. With 6 assists, Michel-Ange Balikwish is Antwerp's assist king.

Milestones

  • Brandon Mechele can play his 425th official match for Club Brugge. The Bredener ranks 10th all-time among players with the highest number of matches for Club. His teammate Hans Vanaken is 9th (438m). The Bruges captain can match Timmy Simons' number of matches Sunday (439).
  • Maxim De Cuyper can play his 30th league match for Club.

The referee

Bram Van Driessche was appointed ref for the game. He is assisted by Mathias Hillaert and Quentin Lesceux (linesmen) and Jan Boterberg (fourth official). The VAR on duty is Bert Put, assisted by Lennert Becquet and Dieter Van Esch.

Van Driessche will be in charge of a Club match for the 28th time. Of the previous 13 home games under his direction, Club won 9 times and drew 4 times. Earlier this season, the referee also whistled the home game against Antwerp (2-1) in the regular league.

Van Driessche has already been in charge 35 times during an Antwerp match. The Great Old's previous 15 away matches ended