KV Oostende - Club: the Club Facts

The series of the final 10 games of the season begins with the short trip to KV Oostende's Diaz Arena. Read all the Club Facts below!

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THE COMPETITION.
It is the 30th confrontation between the two teams in the Jupiler Pro League. 14 previous away matches against KV Oostende yielded Blauw-Zwart 10 wins (last time 1-3 on 08/11/2020), 2 draws (last time 2-2 on 28/09/2014)and 2 defeats (last time 2-1 on 18/05/2017).

If Club Brugge can beat the Coastal Boys, it will book its tenth consecutive victory against them. With a win, Club would record 5 consecutive league victories for the first time this season.

In 29 mutual duels with KVO, Club could only fail to score once (1-0 defeat on 05/08/2016). Earlier this season, Blauw-Zwart beat KV Oostende 3-0 at home. Noa Lang was the standout with 2 goals. First he cashed in on a beautiful deep pass from Kamal Sowah and in the closing stages he recorded the final score on a pass from Hans Vanaken. In between, Vanaken had already doubled the score with a magnificent volley on an assist from Clinton Mata.

If Club would win, while AA Gent would lose point at Beerschot, Blauw-Zwart is sure of participation in the Champions Play-Offs. Club won the past 4 league matches each time with at least 2 goals difference. The last time it recorded 5 consecutive wins by at least a 2 goal margin dates back to April-May 2016. Those were then the playoffs under Michel Preud'homme when Club could celebrate the title for the first time in 11 years. Club then beat Zulte Waregem 5-0 and 0-2, KRC Genk 3-1, KAA Gent 1-4 and, in the title match, Anderlecht 4-0.

Since Alfred Schreuder's appointment, Club's average ball possession per game rose to 62.%. That's at least 5.2% more than any other team in the Jupiler Pro League.

3 players are on yellow danger for the home match against KRC Genk: Charles De Ketelaere, Éder Balanta and Eduard Sobol.

THE OPPONENT
The club is in 14th place in the standings after 30 playing days. With 32 points, it is not yet mathematically certain of retention, but could be if it does better than RFC Seraing this weekend. This winter, KVO had to look for a new coach after Alexander Blessin accepted a nice offer from Serie A. With Genoa CFC, though, he is currently in penultimate place in the standings.

As a replacement, the Kustboys brought in old acquaintance Yves Vanderhaeghe. The 52-year-old West Fleming was once active at the club from 2015 to 2017. He was then able to guide the club to participation in Play-Off 1 2 years in a row. After periods at KAA Gent and KV Kortrijk, he was fired from Cercle Brugge this season. So on Feb. 11 of this year, he got a second chance at the coastal team. Under Verhaeghe, the club achieved a 4 out of 12.

KV Oostende was able to keep the nets dry in their past 2 home matches. In the previous 13 home matches this season, they managed to do so only once. They won against KAA Gent (1-0), Beerschot VA (3-1), Cercle Brugge (2-1), KAS Eupen (2-1) and Standard (1-0), drew against RSC Anderlecht (2-2) and STVV (0-0) and lost against Sporting Charleroi (0-3), Zulte Waregem (0-2), KV Mechelen (2-4), Union St.-Gillis (1-7), KV Kortrijk (0-2), KRC Genk (0-4), R. Antwerp FC (1-2) and OHL (1-3).

This winter, KVO said goodbye to striker Marko Kvasina [loaned to FC Luzern (Sui)]. The club reinforced with these names:

• Goalkeeper: Kjell Scherpen (Ned) [loaned from Brighton FC (Eng)].
• Defenders: Osaze Urhoghide (Eng/Nga) [loaned from Celtic FC (Sco)], Kyle Duncan (Usa) [New York Red Bulls (Usa)], Siebe Wylin [own youth]Midfielders: Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (Jpn) [loaned from Cerezo Osaka (Jpn)]
• Striker: Alessandro Albanese (Bel/Ita) [Waasland-Beveren].

Only Cercle Brugge (23.6 years) and Standard Liege (24.0 years) brought an average younger squad to the kickoff this season than KV Oostende (24.2 years). Only RFC Seraing (26 goals) scored less often than KV Oostende (28 goals) in the Jupiler Pro League this season.

Makhtar Gueye is KVO's top shooter. The Senegalese striker has already hit 11 goals this season. German midfielder Nick Bätzner is the assist king (4 assists).

MULTIPLE

Ruud Vormer may be in action for the 350th time at Club Brugge. For Hans Vanaken, it could be the 330th official match at FCB. Vanaken can also play his 325th match in First Division. 76 of those were for Sporting Lokeren and 248 for Club Brugge. For Clinton Mata, it could be the 225th match in First Division. He appeared 82 times for Sporting Charleroi, 25 times for KRC Genk and 117 times for Club.

THE REFEREE

Alexandre Boucaut is the ref on duty for the neighborly clash between KV Oostende and Club Brugge. Vito Di Vincenzo and Matthias Massa are the linesmen. Michiel De Cuyper is the fourth official. In Tubize, Kevin Van Damme will take his place behind the scenes, assisted by Jordy Vermeire and Christophe Snoeck.

Boucaut will officiate for the 43rd time for Blauw-Zwart and the 26th time for KV Oostende. He will whistle an away match for Club for the 25th time. The previous 24 ended in 9 wins, 8 draws and 7 defeats. KVO's 11 home matches under Boucaut ended in 6 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats.

Earlier this season for Club, Boucaut whistled the league matches away at KV Kortrijk (0-1) and at home against RFC Seraing (3-2). And for the home team, he previously directed the cup match at KV Kortrijk (1-0) and the league match at home against KAA Gent (1-0). It is only the first time the 41-year-old ref has led a duel between the two clubs.

OTHER MATCHES OF THIS MATCHDAY

Fri 11/03 20:45 Oud-Heverlee Leuven - R. Union St.-Gilloise (Ref: Lardot)
Sat 12/03 16:15 YR KV Mechelen - Sp. du Pays de Charleroi (Ref: Boterberg)
Sat 12/03 18:30 Cercle Brugge KSV - KV Kortrijk (Ref: Verboomen)
Sat 12/03 18:30 SV Zulte Waregem - KAS Eupen (Ref: Put)
Sun 13/03 13:30 RSC Anderlecht - R. Antwerp FC (Ref: Visser)
Sun 13/03 16:00 KRC Genk - K. Sint-Truidense VV (Ref: Dierick)
Sun 13/03 18:30 K. Beerschot VA - KAA Gent (Ref: Van Damme)
Sun 13/03 21:00 R. Standard de Liège - RFC Seraing (Ref: D'Hondt)