If Club can win on Sunday, it will book four wins in a row against the Great Old for the first time since 2017. Club would then also achieve its 30th away win at Antwerp. Since Antwerp's return to the top flight in 2017, Club beat Antwerp three times, drew level on six occassions and was defeated thrice at the Bosuil in the league.
Club lost its first 2 away matches of the season at Standard and Genk, but has since been unbeaten on the road. If Club takes anything away from Deurne, it is 10 away games in a row unbeaten in the Jupiler Pro League. It has been since November 2020-April 2021 that they managed this again (then 11 away matches in a row).
Club Brugge is 15 games in a row unbeaten in the Jupiler Pro League.
Club lost the ball in only 16.6% of ball touches this season, the lowest number in the JPL.
Gustaf Nilsson:
- Scored his first goal for Club against Antwerp in August.
- Contributed already 5 league matches in a row to a goal with a goal (4) or assist (2).
- After his goal against KV Kortrijk, he equaled Andreas Skov Olsen's eight goals and is now joint top scorer at Club.
- In his last three league fixtures he has scored each time. If he can do the same against Antwerp, he will match his record (4x in a row at Union in 2023).
Hans Vanaken is the assist king in the Jupiler Pro league with eight key passes.
Club is currently second in the league with 48 points and gathered more points on the road (21) than Antwerp at home (20).
The opponent
On Sunday, Antwerp hosts Bosuilstadion for the league match of the 24th matchday. Antwerp is currently fifth in the league standings with 37 points. That's 14 less than leader KRC Genk and 11 less than Blauw-Zwart.
Antwerp has already reached Play-Off 1 five seasons in a row and seems to be on track to do so again this season.
Jonas De Roeck (45) has been Antwerp's coach since last summer.
Antwerp achieved a 20 out of 33 at home. It won against STVV (6-1), Union St-Gillis (2-0), Beerschot (5-0 f.f.), Cercle Brugge (3-0), Standard (3-0) and KVC Westerlo (3-2), played equal against FCV Dender (1-1) and KRC Genk (2-2) and went down against Anderlecht (1-2), KV Mechelen (0-1) and Charleroi (1-3). Five of their last nine league matches ended in a draw (2W 2L).
Antwerp said goodbye this winter to their Swedish winger Jacob Ondrejka, who has already hit 7 goals for the Tribe No. 1. He moved to Italian side Parma. Defender Ayrton Costa and goalkeeper Jean Butez also left the club recently.
Antwerp reinforced itself with Olivier Deman and goalkeeper Yannick Thoelen.
Former Club NXT player Senne Lammens was already able to stop 4 of the 6 penalties he faced this season (67%). He can become the first goalkeeper to stop five penalty kicks in 1 season since Jean-François Gilet (2015-16, 5 stopped at KV Mechelen). With Olivier Deman, Dennis Odoi, Senne Lammens, Björn Engels and Jelle Bataille, Antwerp has 5 players with a past at Club.
This season, with Andreas Verstraeten, Farouck Adekami, Gerard Vandeplas, Milo Horemans and Semm Renders, five players aged 18 or younger have already been in action for Antwerp. This is the highest number in the league. Also, with Denis Odoi (36), Tjaronn Chery (36) and Toby Alderweireld (35), Antwerp has three of the oldest players in the league already in action.
With 9 goals, Tjaronn Chery is Antwerp's top scorer. Vincent Janssen already gave 6 assists, the highest number in the JPL after Hans Vanaken.
Antwerp cannot call on newcomer Jairo Riedewald, who received a red card last matchday.
Milestones
- Brandon Mechele can play his 470th official match for Club Brugge.
- Simon Mignolet can be between the sticks for the 275th time for Club and play his 200th league match for Blauw-Zwart.
- Ferran Jutglà and Casper Nielsen can, respectively, play their 90th and 80th league game for Club.
- Chemsdine Talbi can come into play for the 25th time in the Jupiler Pro League.
- For Ardon Jashari it can be his 20th league match for Club
The man in black
Erik Lambrechts has been appointed referee for this fixture. He will be assisted by Jo De Weirdt and Rien Vanyzere. Brent Staessens is the fourth official. Wesli De Cremer is the video assistant referee, assisted by Ella De Vries and Glenn Claes.
