If he were to contribute a goal against KV Mechelen, he would do so for the 230th time (134 goals + 95 assists)!
Club could already score 34 times this season, better than all other teams. KV Mechelen is the third best with 32 goals scored. Club could score in 17 of their 18 away matches in the JPL in 2024. That is the highest number of any team.
If Club Brugge does not lose behind the Barracks, it will be unbeaten 10 official matches in a row.
The opponent
Saturday, KV Mechelen hosts Club Brugge for the first away match of the return round. After 16 playing days, Malinwa is in a nice 5th place just 6 points behind Club Brugge.
KV Mechelen already took 16 out of 24 at home, only KRC Genk (22), Club Brugge (17), Union (17) and Standard (17) took more points at home. Malinwa is already 6 matches unbeaten at home in the JPL. In its last 5 official matches, Malinwa could only win once (3-0 vs Beerschot).
Last week was one to quickly forget for coach Besnik Hasi's team:
- Last weekend it lost 3-1 at KV Kortrijk. Through 2 goals by Ferri and 1 by De Neve, the Kerels gained a three goal lead. Benito Raman saved the honor for the visitors.
- In the cup, KV Mechelen lost Wednesday at Beerschot. Hairemans was able to put the Kakkers ahead, but Colassin dragged out extensions. The home team took the lead in extensions, but thanks to Bafdili it became penalties. Pflücke and Baldili missed their penalty kicks for KVM and so the home team drew the longest.
KV Mechelen said goodbye to goalkeeper Gaëtan Coucke after the first match. At the end of the transfer period, they reinforced themselves with defender Ahmed Touba. The youth product of Club played 10 times at Blauw-Zwart. In addition, striker Benito Raman also arrived.
Raman is Malinwa's top shooter with 5 goals. Patrick Pflücke & Nikola Storm already set a teammate up for a goal 4 times.
In 6 of their last 7 home games against Club Brugge, KV Mechelen could not find their way to the nets. But in their 19 last home matches in the Jupiler Pro League (50 goals), they were able to score every time.
Coach Besnik Hasi is the longest-serving coach in the Jupiler Pro League after the dismissal of Miron Muslic at Cercle.
KV Mechelen has the second oldest starting eleven in the Jupiler Pro League with an average age of 26.64. Only that of Antwerp (26.67) is even older. With Mrabti, Schoofs, Storm, Hairemans and Raman, 5 thirty-somethings participated in the last matches.
Milestones
- Joël Ordóñez can play his 50th match for Club Brugge!
- Hugo Vetlesen can play his 50th league match for Blauw-Zwart.
- Gustaf Nilsson is awaiting his 10th JPL match for Club.
Total stats:
First Division: 119 duels, 65 wins for Club, 26 draws and 28 defeats, 248 goals for and 128 against
Second Division: 6 duels, 2 wins for Club, 2 draws and 2 defeats, 11 goals for and 10 against
Cup: 11 duels, 5 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats for Club, 23 goals for and 19 against
TOTAL: 136 duels, 72 wins, 31 draws, 33 defeats for Club, 282 goals for and 157 against
Referee
Bram Van Driessche was appointed ref for this game. Yves De Neve and Wouter Cochet are the linesmen on duty. Hannes De Couvreur is the fourth man. The VAR is Nicolas Laforge, assisted by Romain Devillers and Carlos-Manuel Serra Guerreiro Alho.
The 39-year-old ref will lead an official Club match for the 31st time. Its previous 15 away matches ended in eight wins, four draws and three defeats. Of 25 previous matches he whistled from Malinwa, Van Driessche hosted them 18 times (11W 3D 4L).
In 2022 he already whistled once duel between Club and Malinwa. At Jan Breydel it was then 2-0 for Blauw-Zwart.
