Sporting Charleroi – KVC Westerlo
Once again this season, both our home fans and neutral viewers were treated to a spectacular match filled with goals, penalties, and several VAR moments. Thanks to this win, we remain firmly in the race for that coveted Conference League ticket. The result against Charleroi will bring more clarity on that front.
KVC Westerlo
We remain unbeaten at ’t Kuipje during the play-offs. In all four of those home matches, we had to come from behind — a clear testament to the team’s mentality and physical resilience.
Back in January, we struggled to regain our rhythm, suffering defeats to STVV, Antwerp, and Genk. But the results picked up steadily afterward. Since February, we’ve played 14 matches, losing only twice — at home against Charleroi and away in Dender. The rest: 6 wins, 6 draws, with 26 goals scored and 18 conceded.
Tomorrow, we face Charleroi in a direct duel for that final ticket. Only three points matter — and we’re not afraid. Coach Timmy Simons always believes in his team’s own strength and never resorts to parking the bus. That said, Charleroi has been somewhat of a bogey team for us… We’ve only beaten them once in the last 10 encounters. Time to change that.
Josimar Alcocer is back in the squad after briefly dealing with a hamstring issue last week. Jordan Bos is still recovering in Australia and is expected to return to Belgium next week to start preparing for the new season.
Sporting Charleroi
Rik De Mil is well on track to lead his team to victory in these play-offs. A win against Westerlo would all but secure their place in the final. They are also the only team in this group to win back-to-back matches and to keep four clean sheets in seven games.
In the previous meeting at the Stade du Pays, Charleroi took all three points with a 1–0 victory. They had double the number of shots on target (22–10), and midfielder Titraoui — who arguably should’ve been sent off after just 3 minutes for a nasty tackle on Haspolat — was at the center of it. The Algerian midfielder is reportedly attracting interest from several clubs, including Anderlecht, Toulouse, Nice, Monaco, Hull City, and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Serbian striker Nikola Stulic is their top scorer with 14 goals — the highest tally of his career in a single season. He is also the leading scorer in the play-offs with 5 goals. Other key contributors include Daan Heymans (13 goals, 2 assists), Parfait Guiagon (6 goals, 6 assists), and Antoine Bernier (5 goals, 3 assists).
Referee
Nicolas Laforge has been appointed for this match. It will be his 30th match of the season. This year, he officiated one match for our Kemphanen: a 1–2 home loss against Club Brugge at ’t Kuipje. A remarkable stat: in the last 9 matches he refereed for us, he awarded 7 penalties — of which only 3 were converted. His all-time record with us stands at 4 wins, 6 draws, and 7 losses.
Text and statistics: Peter Boons
