With the final international break well and truly behind us, it's time to take on the league again, and we're into the final match day of the first round. STVV will be making their way to Jan Breydel. Find out all there is to know here.
The fixture
On Saturday Club Brugge will be putting an end to the first round of the regular league with a home game against K. Sint-Truidense VV, the first of the last 9 games still set to be played in 2024. The two teams will be crossing swords for the 93rd time in the Belgian top flight. On 46 previous occasions when STVV visited, Club won 39 and drew 7.
Which means STVV has been unable to beat Club at its own turf. They managed to win twice outside of the home league, however: in 1956 in Second Division (0-1) and 2 years ago in the Croky Cup when the Canaries ousted Club in the Round of 16 (1-4). Club has been unable to beat STVV in the past three encounters (2D 1L), while it won all 8 league games before that.
Last season, Club missed out on the three points against STVV twice. The game at Jan Breydel ended in a 1-1 draw, Club's lead through Skov Olsen, cancelled out by Koita. At Stayen, Jutglà provided an early lead, but Zahiroleslam and Koita ensured a first Truien league win against Club in 9 years (2-1), Club's only defeat against STVV in the last 17 clashes (12W 4D).
Against Beerschot, two goal scorers from Club's own youth ranks scored through Romeo Vermant and Joaquin Seys. The last time this happened was when Charles De Ketelaere scored twice at OHL back in 2021 (1-4).
The tie at Kiel Stadium referred Club to third place, 6 behind leaders Genk and one behind runners-up Antwerp.
Top scorer at Club is Andreas Skov Olsen with 5 goals, while Hans Vanaken and Gustaf Nilsson share the top assist table (4). Club has been able to score in 12 JPL games in a row, making this the longest run of any Jupiler Pro League team.
Club players Simon Mignolet and Brandon Mechele, both former STVV players, have not missed out on any minute this season in the league.
The opponent
Match Day 15 sees STVV make the trip to Jan Breydel. Last season, coach Thorsten Fink's Canaries finished ninth in the regular league and third in the Europe Play-Offs. Fink has been snatched away by neighbours and rivals KRC Genk in the meantime.
Appointed in the Summer, Christian Lattanzio succeeded Fink, and went through dire times, not having won a single game 6 games in (3D 3L). A dismissal made way for experienced coach Felice Mazzu (58), and the former Sporting Charleroi, Genk, Union and Anderlecht coach was soon able to cause a turnaround, win 4 times in 8 games (2D 2L). Saturday's game will be the 365th time in the top flight.
Meanwhile, the Limburg club is already in 11th place (17 points), but the distance to the penultimate spot is only 3 points. STVV was also able to qualify for the 1/8th finals of the Croky Cup at the expense of Lierse SK. There an away game at Cercle Brugge awaits.
The Canaries' top shooter is Adriano Bertaccini. The Belgian with Italian roots is also top shooter of the JPL with 8 goals, along with Tolu Arokodare (KRC Genk) and Kasper Dolberg (RSC Anderlecht). With Ryotaro Ito, Ryoya Ogawa, Louis Patris and Kahveh Zahiroleslam, it has 4 players who handed out 2 assists. Defender Rein Van Helden (22) was only missing 11 minutes on the pitch at STVV this season.
Last summer a lot of players left the club: goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, defender Matte Smets, midfielders Mathias Delorge and Shinji Okazaki and strikers Aboubakary Koita, Jarne Steuckers and Fatih Kaya.
These players replaced:
- Goalkeeper: Leo Kobuko
- Defenders: Shogo Taniguchi, Louis Patris (rental), Zineddine Belaid and Hugo Lambotte (youth product)
- Midfielders: Rihito Yamamoto and Isaías Delpupo
- Attackers: Billal Brahimi (rental) and Andrés Ferrari (rental)
STVV was able to score in 12 of 14 JPL matches. Only Club Brugge does even better (13/14).
STVV was able to win once on the road this season (0-3 at Beerschot). Furthermore, it played 2 draws (1-1 at KV Kortrijk and Cercle) and lost 4 times (1-0 at RSC Anderlecht, 6-1 at Antwerp, 3-2 at KRC Genk and 2-1 at Standard).
Defenders Shogo Taniguchi, Wolke Janssens, Frederic Ananou, midfielders Rihito Yamamoto and Ryotaro Ito and striker Joselpho Barnes are uncertain for Saturday. They were missing from past matches due to injuries.
Milestones
- Hans Vanaken can play his 470th official match for Club Brugge against his provincials.
- Christos Tzolis can play his 20th match for Club.
- Joel Ordóñez can be in action for the 30th time in a JPL match for Blauw-Zwart.
- Gustaf Nilsson is awaiting his 10th league game for Club and his 75th in the Jupiler Pro League (65 for Union).
- Maxim De Cuyper can play his 90th league game in First Division. He played 50 JPL matches for Club and 39 for KVC Westerlo.
Total statistics
First Class: 92 duels, 55 wins for Club, 22 draws and 15 defeats, 206 goals for and 106 against
Second Division: 10 duels, 5 wins for Club, 1 draw and 4 defeats, 19 goals for and 16 against
Cup: 4 duels, 3 wins and 1 defeat for Club, 8 goals for and 6 goals against
TOTAL: 106 duels, 63 wins for Club, 23 draws and 20 defeats, 233 goals for and 128 against7
Referee
Jasper Vergoote was designated ref for this game. Michael Geerolf and Michele Seeldraeyers are the linesmen on duty. Arne De Beuckelaer is the fourth ref. In Tubize, Bert Put will take his place behind the scenes, flanked by Koen Thijs and Roel Bensch.
Earlier this season, Vergoote already led Club's home matches against Cercle Brugge (3-0) and RSC Anderlecht (2-1). It will be his 16th time leading a Club match. Club's previous 5 home matches under his leadership resulted in 3 wins and 2 draws.
Vergoote already whistled 14 matches of STVV, 7 of them were away matches (1W 3D 3L). It is the first time the 32-year-old ref will lead a duel between Club and STVV.