The Opponent
Union hosts Wednesday's 10th Jupiler Pro League game of the season. After 9 playing days, Union can be found in 8th place in the standings with 13 points. That is 1 less than Club Brugge and 9 less than leader KRC Genk.
Last season, Union was on its way to its first national title in 89 years. But at the meet Club still snatched the title from them. Union found solace in winning their third Cup of Belgium. In the final, they were 1-0 too strong for Antwerp.
This season Union failed to qualify for the Champions League through the preliminary rounds. In the UEFA Europa League, on the second match day of the League Phase last Thursday, Union did not get beyond a scoreless draw at home against Norwegian FK Bodø/Glimt, despite 21 goal attempts. Confrontations with FC Midtjylland (Den) and AS Roma (Ita) will follow after the international break.
Union could not yet win on the road this season. It won 3 out of 15. It played draw at FCV Dender, STVV and Standard (0-0 each time) and lost at Westerlo (4-3) and Antwerp (2-0).
Since this summer, Sébastien Pocognoli has been Union's coach. At 37, he is the youngest coach in the Jupiler Pro League. Union already had 6 clearances in 9 league matches. No team in the JPL does better.
However, it could only score in 4 of 9 league matches. In their last 3 away matches it could not score. It has been since 1972-73 that this happened to them again (then 8 away matches in a row).
Since the meeting between Club and Union in the Supercup, the Brusselers made a lot of transfers:
- USG said goodbye to Professional Footballer of the Year Cameron Puertas. The Spaniard moved to Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, German striker Dennis Eckert Ayensa was loaned to Standard Liege.
- Along incoming sides, the club attracted 3 more attackers: Croatian Franjo Ivanovic [HNK Rijeka (Cro)], Senegalese Ousseynou Niang [Riga FC (Lva)] and Moroccan Sofiane Boufal [Al-Rayyan SC (Qat)].
Mohammed Fuseini and Kevin Rodríguez are Union's top shooters. His already scored 2 goals in the Jupiler Pro League. Koki Machida and Anthony Moris did not miss a minute this JPL season.
Milestones
- Kyriani Sabbe may play his 40th game for Club.
- Joaquin Seys, Nordin Jackers, Christos Tzolis and Gustaf Nilsson are all awaiting their 10th league match for Club.
- Casper Nielsen can play his 110th match in First Division against his former club. The Danish midfielder played 39 matches in the JPL with Union and 70 for Club.
- Yet another ex-Union player can reach an anniversary: Gustaf Nilsson can play his 75th match in First Division. He came out 65 times for Union and 9 times for Club.
- Romeo Vermant can play his 30th match in First Class. He came into action 12 times for KVC Westerlo and 17 times for Club.
First Class: 93 duels, 35 wins for Club, 18 draws and 40 defeats, 143 goals for and 186 against;
Cup: 4 duels, 2 wins and 2 defeats for Club, 5 goals for and 7 against;
Supercup: 1 duel, 1 defeat for Club, 1 goal for and 2 against.
TOTAL: 98 duels, 37 wins for Club, 18 draws and 43 defeats, 149 goals for and 195 against.
The Referee
Erik Lambrechts was appointed ref for this game. The assistant refs are Jo De Weirdt and Kevin Monteny. The fourth man is Bram Van Driessche. Wesli De Cremer is the VAR on duty, flanked by Ella De Vries and Istvan Lagaert.
Matches played by Lambrechts for both clubs so far:
- Club Brugge: 41 matches. At home: 24 matches (18W 3D 3L)
- Union St-Gillis: 15 matches. Away: 7 matches (3W 2D 2L).
Once before, Lambrechts conducted a mutual duel between the two teams: the home match in the 2022 playoffs that Club won 1-0.
Earlier this season, the 40-year-old ref already whistled 2 Club duels: the home match against KV Mechelen (1-1) and the away match at FCV Dender (1-2).
