Away days, best days! Do you make the trip to Leuven! Prepare yourself perfectly for the match with the Club Facts!
The game
On Saturday, Club Brugge heads to Den Dreef for their Jupiler Pro League match against OH Leuven. This will be the 17th time the teams face each other in league competition.
Each of the last eight encounters in Leuven has ended with a winner. Club Brugge came out on top five times, while OH Leuven secured all three points three times. In Club's last six away games at Leuven, they only lost once, a 2-1 defeat in 2020.
Club has won their last three away games, keeping a clean sheet in the last two. Last season, Club Brugge took six out of six points against OHL. They won the away game in Leuven by the narrowest margin, thanks to a brilliant goal from Ferran Jutglà.
At Jan Breydel, Club found themselves trailing after half an hour due to a goal by Ewoud Pletinckx. They entered halftime level after an own goal by the visiting goalkeeper. Tobe Leysen had to turn around twice more in the second half after goals by Hans Vanaken and Bjorn Meijer.
Last season, Ferran Jutglà delivered the decisive blow in Leuven. It was his third goal against OHL; only Noa Lang has scored as many goals for Club against Leuven as the Spanish striker.
This past Wednesday, Club defeated Belisia Bilzen 6-1 in the Croky Cup. Smiles were all around, as Bjorn Meijer and Gustaf Nilsson celebrated their comeback with a goal. Jutglà, Romero, and Skoras also found the net for the first time this season. Club thus remains active on three fronts this season and will face another team from Limburg, K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen, in the next round.
Andreas Skov Olsen and Hans Vanaken are Club's top scorers with four goals each.
Gustaf Nilsson leads the team in assists with four. In his Belgian career, he has already been decisive three times against OHL (two goals and one assist for Union).
Club Brugge has scored 65 times in 2024, making them the top-scoring team in the Jupiler Pro League alongside KV Mechelen. They failed to score in only two of their 32 league matches this calendar year.
Club is currently unbeaten in their last four away games (3 wins, 1 draw). If they avoid a defeat against Leuven, they will go five consecutive away games unbeaten for the first time since early 2022 (when they reached six).
Club Brugge leads the JPL in shots (220) and touches in the opponent's box (427).
Following their victory against RSC Anderlecht, Club climbed to third place with 21 points, seven behind league leader KRC Genk and two behind Antwerp. The top two teams will face each other this weekend.
The opponent
After 12 match days, Leuven is ranked 11th with 15 points. A victory could bring them level with Gent (5th place, 18 points), while a loss could potentially drop them down to level with Cercle Brugge (15th place).
Almost one year ago Óscar Garcia took over as head coach of OH Leuven. The 51-year-old Spanish coach managed to keep OHL out of the relegation play-offs on the final match day last season by lifting the club above Sporting Charleroi to finish 12th. In the European play-offs, he pushed them further up, finishing fourth out of six participants.
This season, the club has experienced highs and lows. OHL went unbeaten in the first six matches and pulled off home upsets with a 3-1 win over KRC Genk and a 2-0 victory against Standard. However, they then went five consecutive games without a win.
This week, OHL had an excellent run, with a 0-2 away win at Sporting Charleroi in the league, followed by a 2-0 home win against RFC Seraing in the Croky Cup.
Club Brugge has historically been a tough opponent for the student city team, with OHL losing 69% of their matches against Club in the Jupiler Pro League (3W, 2D, 11L)—their highest loss rate against any opponent (with at least 10 matches played) in the Jupiler Pro League.
In the last 13 encounters, OHL has only won once against Club Brugge (2D, 10L).
The club’s top scorers each have two goals: Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi, Youssef Maziz, and Konan N’Dri. Ezechiel Banzuzi has assisted a teammate on four occasions.
Coach Garcia cannot count on injured players Ewoud Pletinckx, Antef Tsoungui, and Mathieu Maetens.
With Federico Ricca, Thibault Vlietinck, Birger Verstraete, and Siebe Schrijvers, OHL has several players with a history at Club Brugge.
Alongside Club’s Simon Mignolet and Brandon Mechele, Tobe Leysen is one of the 15 players who haven’t missed a minute this season in the Jupiler Pro League.
Milestones
- Ferran Jutglà can play his 110th official match for Club. He can also play his 80th league match for the Blue and Black.
- Maxim De Cuyper can play his 50th league match for Club.
- It can be the 40th JPL-match at Club for Michal Skoras.
- Kyriani Sabbe and Romeo Vermant can play their resp. 30th and 20th league match for Club.
- Gustaf Nilsson can play his 10th league match for Club. Combined with the 65 matches played for Union, he can play his 75th match in the First Division.
- Hans Vanaken can play his 425th match in the First Division (76 for Lokeren, 348 for Club).
The referee
Mr. Simon Bourdeaud'hui has been appoined Man in Black for this duel.
Mr. Michele Seeldraeyers and Mr. Bryan Bijnens are the line referees while Mr. Arne De Beuckelaer is the fourth official. The VAR is Mr. Nicolas Laforge, assisted by Mr. Vito Di Vincenzo and Mr. Carlos-Manuel Serra Guerreiro Alho.
It is the first time that the 28-year-old East Flemish man will blew the whistle during a match of Club Brugge in the Jupiler Pro League. He was already the referee for the Cup match at Beerschot last season (0-6).
He already led three official matches of OHL. The home match in that series was lost.