On Saturday night, Club Brugge will play their 26th league match of the season. In Jan Breydel, the Blues will face OH Leuven. You can read the Club Facts below.
The Match
On Saturday, Club will play the last of four consecutive matches at the Jan Breydel Stadium. OH Leuven will be their guest. It is the twentieth duel between both teams in the First Division and the third duel between Club and OHL this season. Club Brugge are already 10 league games unbeaten against OH Leuven (8W 2D), of which FCB were able to win the last five duels. 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 fixture against Charleroi. The last time Mechele was absent dates back to the Cup match against Belisia Bilzen late October 2024.
The in-form player at Club Brugge is Nicolò Tresoldi. Last Wednesday against Atlético, he scored for the third game in a row. The German striker is FCB's top scorer 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) has set up most goals.
The opponent
For the moment, OH Leuven are ranked 13th in the Jupiler Pro League with 28 points. With five more fixtures to go, OH Leuven are trying to move up at least one more spot to escape the relegation playoffs.
Felice Mazzu's team gave itself some breathing room last week by beating the league's basement team FCV Dender at home 3-2. It was not without effort, as Sory Kaby only scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 95th minute. OH Leuven are now unbeaten for 4 JPL matches in a row.
OHL took 14 points 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), drew 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 scorer 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 the Blues.
- Aleksandar Stanković may play his 40th match for Club. 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.
Man in Black
Mr. Jasper Vergoote is the referee for this match. He will be assisted by linesmen Mr. Michele Seeldraeyers and Mr. Martijn Tiesters. Mr. Klass Clerkx is the fourth official. The VAR on duty is Mr. Wesli De Cremer, assisted by Mr. Koen Thijs and Mr. Alexander Braley.
The 34-year-old West Flemish referee will whistle his 25th Club match. The 10 previous home matches refereed by him resulted in 8 wins and 2 draws. Mr. Vergoote previously whistled two duels between FCB and OHL.