It’s Matchday 18 in the Jupiler Pro League and key questions are still yet to be answered about this exciting season.
Genk have a four-point lead over nearest challengers Club Brugge – who they will play this weekend – while Anderlecht are a further four points behind. A clutch of teams, from Royal Antwerp in 4th on 27 points to Dender in 11th on 21 points, will all have their hopes on qualifying for the Championship Round as they approach the latter stages of the season.
At the foot of the table, only Beerschot look destined for the Relegation Round at present, with 15th-12th place only separated by three points, so any win could potentially pull a team out of the doldrums.
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Mechelen to draw with Royal Antwerp @ 3.45
This is a huge game in the race for Championship Round qualification as 6th-placed Mechelen host 4th-placed Royal Antwerp. Both these teams’ form in the last five games include three defeats, a draw and just one win, so with identical records like that, something has to give, right? Well, no, not according to us.
A tense game between two teams potentially low on confidence and looking over their shoulders at a chasing pack. Draw.
Club Brugge to beat Genk @ 1.71
The weekend’s big fixture comes from Bruges as 2nd-placed Club Brugge host league leaders Genk. Brugge have a chance to close the gap on Genk to a single point, while a Genk win would put them seven clear at the top and confident of staying there.
Brugge are fresh off of a Champions League win versus Sporting, so will be confident they can reproduce a requisite performance and continue their pursuit of Genk at the top of the table. The reverse fixture on Matchday 3 saw Genk triumph 3-2, with a winner in additional time from Patrik Hrosovsky being the difference. Though we were initially tempted to go for a draw, we think home advantage will be a deciding factor in this match.
Union Saint-Gilloise to beat Westerlo @ 1.48
It’s another Matchday 18 fixture that sees two teams who are barely separated in the table face-off. USG are 7th with 24 points, with Westerlo two points and two places behind.
USG are unbeaten in five, but three of those results have been draws, while Westerlo also have two wins in that same period, albeit with a couple of defeats. Therefore, we think Saint-Gilliose should have enough at home to see Westerlo off and create a five-point gap between them.
Gent to beat Cercle Brugge @ 1.86
Fifth-placed Gent should feel confident about beating Cercle Brugge – a team they are 10 places above. That being said, Gent only have one more win in the last five games than the side one place off the bottom of the table, and Cercle got an unexpected point on Matchday 17 against USG, despite being down to 10 men for the last 20 minutes of that game.
However, we do expect Gent to be too strong for Cercle Brugge at home and take the three points that will further enshrine them among the Championship Round places.
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