On Saturday night, Club Brugge will play its 26th league match of the season. In the Jan Breydelstadion, Blauw-Zwart will be visited by OH Leuven. You can read all about the match in the Club Facts.
The Match
On Saturday, Club plays the last of four consecutive matches at the Jan Breydel Stadium. OH Leuven will be their guest. It is the twentieth confrontation in first division between the two teams and the third meeting between Club and the Leuveners this season. Club Brugge is already 10 league games unbeaten against OH Leuven (8W 2D), of which FCB was able to win the last five mutual duels each time. The last defeat dates back to October 2020 when Club lost 2-1 at Den Dreef.
Brandon Mechele must avoid a yellow card in order not to miss next week's match against Charleroi. The last time Mechele was missing was in late October 2024 in the cup match against Belisia Bilzen.
The man in form at Club is currently Nicolò Tresoldi. Last Wednesday against Atlético, he scored in his third game in a row for Club. The German striker is FCB's top shooter in the Jupiler Pro League with 8 goals. Only Keisuke Goto (STVV, 10 goals) and Promise David (Union SG, 9 goals) hit more often in the league. Christos Tzolis (10 assists) is still the best striker at Club.
The opponent
OH Leuven is in thirteenth place in the Jupiler Pro League rankings with 28 points. With five playing days to go, OH Leuven is trying to move up at least one more spot to escape the relegation playoffs.
Felice Mazzu's team gave itself some breathing room last game by beating red lantern FCV Dender at home 3-2. It was not without effort, as Sory Kaby's winning goal fell from the penalty spot only in the 95th minute. OH Leuven is now unbeaten for 4 JPL matches in a row.
The Leuveners took 14 out of 36 on the road. They won at FCV Dender EH (0-1), Cercle Brugge (1-2), Standard Liège (0-1) and KAA Gent (1-3), played equal at KV Mechelen (1-1) and La Louvière (0-1), but lost at Union SG (5-0), Antwerp (3-1), Zulte Waregem (2-0), KVC Westerlo (2-0), KRC Genk (2-1) and STVV (1-0).
Sory Kaba is OH Leuven's top shooter with 5 goals. With Lukasz Lakomy, Mathieu Maertens, Youssef Maziz and Thibaud Verlinden, there are 4 players with three assists behind their names.
With an average age of 26.55 years, OH Leuven has the oldest starting eleven in the Jupiler Pro League. OH Leuven is the club that collected the most yellow cards (78), which is more than double that of Club (37).
Milestones
- Hans Vanaken can play his 550th official game for Club Brugge.
- For Joaquin Seys, it may be his 80th match for Blauw-Zwart.
- Aleksandar Stanković may be in action for Club for the 40th time. He may also play his 25th league match at Club.
- Both Christos Tzolis and Romeo Vermant can play their 60th match in the JPL with FCB.
The referee
Jasper Vergoote is the referee in this match. He is assisted by linesmen Michele Seeldraeyers and Martijn Tiesters. The fourth man is Klass Clerkx. The VAR on duty is Wesli De Cremer, assisted by Koen Thijs and Alexander Braley.
The 34-year-old West Fleming is whistling Club Brugge's game for the twenty-fifth time. The 10 previous home matches resulted in 8 wins and 2 draws. Vergoote previously conducted 2 mutual duels between FCB and OHL.