The Match
Tomorrow afternoon, the two most recent national champions will play each other at Jan Breydel. It will be the 175th confrontation between the two teams in the Belgian first division. The 88 previous home games against Antwerp resulted in 52 wins, 17 draws and 18 defeats. In the last 24 home matches against the Reds, Club lost only once (20W 3D).
Last season, both teams won their home match against each other 2-1. At Jan Breydel, Ilenikhena erased Jutglà's opening goal, but Club still kept the 3 points at home after a late goal from Hans Vanaken. At the Bosuil, Club got ahead thanks to Maxim De Cuyper, but Antwerp could still celebrate a win after 2 late goals from Kobe Corbanie and Jacob Ondrejka.
During the play-offs Club went on to win twice: a 3-0 win at home (Onyedika, Skoras and Zinckernagel) and a 1-2 win away (Balikwisha (p) | Alderweireld (og) and Skov Olsen).
The Opponent
Antwerp travels to Jan Breydel on Sunday on matchday 4 of the Jupiler Pro League. Jonas De Roeck succeeded Mark van Bommel as coach of RAFC this summer. The 44-year-old Belgian is the club's sixth coach since their promotion to first division in 2017 (after Böloni, Leko, Vercauteren, Priske and van Bommel). De Roeck began and ended his playing career at The Great Old. As a coach in first division, he previously worked at STVV (2017-18), RSC Anderlecht (Oct. 2019) and Westerlo (2022-Dec. 23).
Antwerp began the season under De Roeck's leadership with six points out of a possible nine by beating Charleroi (0-1) and Sint-Truiden (6-1). They lost at home against Anderlecht (1-2). Antwerp's top marksman is Jacob Ondrejka who managed a hat-trick against Sint-Truiden.
An Antwerp goal on Sunday would mark their 100th goal on the road in a league match against Club.
Vincent Janssen is one of the eight players in the Jupiler Pro League who have already given two assists during the first three league fixtures.
Antwerp underwent a lot of changes this summer. It said goodbye to strikers George Ilenikhena and Chidera Ejuke, midfielders Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, Alhassan Yusuf and Eliot Matazo and defenders Ritchie De Laet, Soumaïla Coulibaly and Owen Wijndal.
This summer, ex-Club player Denis Odoi moved to Antwerp on a free transfer. The defender did not miss a minute this season at his new club. This week RAFC attracted Dutch midfielder Jairo Riedewald.
Furthermore, Antwerp also reinforced with defenders Ayrton Costa, Rosen Bozhinov and Laurit Krasniqi. Midfielders Tjaronn Chery, Farouck Adekami and Christopher Scott also arrived in Deurne.
Antwerp's starting eleven is the oldest in First Division with an average age of 27.38 years.
Milestones
- Hans Vanaken can play his 340th league match for Club.
- For Brandon Mechele, it could be the 325th league game at Blauw-Zwart.
- Simon Mignolet could be between the posts for the 180th time in a Club Brugge JPL-match.
- After his 100th official match last weekend, Andreas Skov Olsen can play his 75th league game for Club on Sunday.
Last 10 encounters
- 3-2 (19/05/2019). Goals: 4' 89' Openda, 80' (p) Vossen | 53' Baby, 59' Mbokani (PO1 2018-2019)
- (02/02/2020). Goals: 84' Vanaken (Regular League 2019-2020)
- 0-2 (21/03/2021). Goals: 9' Lamkel Ze, 43' (p) Refaelov (Regular League 2020-2021).
- 2-1 (16/05/2021). Goals: 60' De Ketelaere, 66' (p) Vanaken | 62' Mbokani (PO1 2020-2021).
- 4-1 (27/02/2022). Goals: 31' Odoi, 37' (p) Vanaken, 59' Adamyan, 64' Skov Olsen | 29' Frey (Regular League 2021-2022)
- (24/04/2022). Goals: 37' Buchanan (PO1 2021-2022)
- 2-2 (13/11/2022). Goals: 34' Mechele, 62' Lang | 75' Frey, 78' (p) Janssen (Regular League 2022-2023).
- 2-0 (21/05/2023). Goals: 51' 62' Nielsen (PO1 2022-2023)
- 2-1 (29/10/2023). Goals: 45' Jutglà, 90' Vanaken | 72' Ilenikhena (Regular League 2023-2024).
- 3-0 (14/04/2024). Goals: 44' Onyedika, 60' Skoras, 96' Zinckernagel (PO1 2023-2024)
TOTAL: 8W 1D 1L
The histories in figures
First Division: 174 duels, 81 wins for Club, 42 draws and 51 defeats. 307 goals for and 239 against
Cup: 8 duels, 5 wins for Club, 1 draw and 2 defeats, 19 goals for and 9 against
Super Cup: 1 game, 1 draw (won by Club after penalties). 1 goal for and 1 against
TOTAL: 183 duels: 86 wins, 44 draws, 53 defeats. 327 goals for and 249 against
The referee
Lothar D'Hondt is the ref on duty for Sunday's match. The linesmen on Sunday are Romain Devillers and Nico Claes. Nicolas Laforge is the fourth official. Lawrence Visser is the VAR, assisted by Rien Vanyzere and Glenn Claes.
The 30-year-old ref has led Club's official match 20 times before. 9 home matches of Club under his command ended in 5 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats. D'Hondt led 18 matches of The Great Old, including 8 on the road (6W 0D 2L). Once before, he led a duel between the two teams: in February 2023, the confrontation at the Bosuil then ended all square (0-0).