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RSCA - Club: the Club Facts

Jupiler Pro League

Tomorrow, Blauw-Zwart travels to Anderlecht for the penultimate match of the Champions' Play-Offs. Prepare yourself perfectly for the clash with the Club Facts!

The Match

Tomorrow, Club plays its 32ndand final away game of the season. Between both teams, it will be the 186thconfrontation on the highest level. The previous 92 away matches ended in 12 wins, 31 draws and 49 defeats.

It has been since 2021 that RSCA managed to win a home game against FCB. Looking at the Champions' Play-Offs, Club is already 7 mutual duels in a row unbeaten against purple and white (3 wins, 4 draws). The last defeat in the Play-Offs against RSCA dates back to May 2018.

In the home game against Anderlecht, Club was able to score as many as three goals. Brandon Mechele quickly headed Club into the lead and Raphael Onyedika further deepened the lead with 2 goals from distance. Anders Dreyer provided the honors for RSCA in the closing stages.

Sunday's game is the duel between the best home team (12/12 for Anderlecht) and the best away team (10/12 for Club Brugge) in this final round. On the road, Club went on to win at Union (1-2), Genk (0-3) and Antwerp (1-2) and played a draw against Cercle (1-1). This clever run both on the road and at home therefore ensures that Club already gained 6 points more than their opponent in these Champions' Play-Offs. FCB is also the team that scored the most goals in this final round (20 goals). Anderlecht could already score 11 times so far.

Blauw-Zwart will not be able to call on Igor Thiago for the match. He fell out injured against Union earlier this week. Other top shooters Andreas Skov Olsen (14) and Ferran Jutglà (8) are in the game. Assist king at FCB is Maxim De Cuyper (9).

Hans Vanaken could already score 10 times for Club against Anderlecht in the league. In this final round, the captain did not score yet.

Sunday will already be the 62ndgame of the season for Club. For RSCA their 42nd.

The opponent

Anderlecht is the only team in these Play-Offs that managed to maximize points at home. It won at home against Antwerp (1-0), Union (2-1), Cercle (3-0) and Genk (2-1).

The most decisive player at Sunday's opponent is Anders Dreyer. With 18 goals, he is the team's top shooter and he also served a teammate most often (9 assists). Thus, he has already had a foot in 27 purple and white goals this season.

Together with Brandon Mechelle, Anderlecht's Killian Sardella is one of the 10 players who did not miss a single minute in these Play-Offs.

Anderlecht cannot call on midfielder Thomas Delaney because he collected his third yellow card of this final round on the previous match day. Jan Vertonghen, Thorgan Hazard and Majeed Ashimeru will also be missing from the selection due to injury.

Anderlecht has had to wait 7 years for a title. Never before has it had to tolerate so much time between 2 national titles.

Milestones

  • Chemsdine Talbi can play his 10th game for Club.
  • Brandon Mechele can play his 320th league match for Blue-Black.
  • Simon Mignolet can be between the posts for the 175th time in the Jupiler Pro League for Club.
  • Andreas Skov Olsen can play his 70th league game at FCB.
  • For Raphael Onyedika, it could be the 60th league match. And for Philip Zinckernagel, the 30th.
  • Maxim De Cuyper can play his 75th match in First Division: 39 for KVC Westerlo and 35 for Club.

The referee

Erik Lambrechts was designated ref for the classic. He will be assisted by linesmen Jo De Weirdt and Kevin Monteny. The fourth ref is Wim Smet.

In Tubize, Lothar D'Hondt will assume the role of VAR. He will be flanked by Romain Devillers and Jasper Vitse.

For Lambrechts, it is the 39th time he will whistle a Club match. In the previous 15 away games, Club managed 7 wins, played 2 draws and suffered 6 defeats.

For purple and white, it will be the 42nd time the ref has been in charge of the match. Of the previous 16 home matches with Lambrechts as referee, RSCA won 9 times, played 5 draws and suffered 2 defeats.