STVV – KVC Westerlo

The first international break is already over and, if we are to believe a well-known analyst, the current rankings already indicate roughly where each team will finish in the final standings. So PO2 is coming up for our Kemphanen, although we still have one game in hand, you know. If we win, we will actually be in PO1. We are curious to see what happens.

KVC Westerlo

Just before the break, Antwerp  – then still undefeated – was convincingly sent to the Bosuil with zero points. Coach Charaï made two substitutions to the starting line-up, bringing on Seiji Kimura and Arthur Piedfort, while Neustädter and Yow had to settle for a role as potential game-changers.

Arthur rewarded himself after his strong performance with the decisive second goal in the 75th minute.

Let’s not forget that Andreas Jungdal had saved Doumbia’s penalty three minutes earlier, keeping our Kemphanen in the running to keep the full points at home. It’s worth mentioning that he has a save percentage of 50% in the Jupiler Pro League (6 against and 3 saved).

Confidence was also gained in Mierlo, where VVV-Venlo was our host. The final score of 1-4 was not even an exaggeration.

During the final minutes of the summer transfer window, several names popped up to strengthen the team, and ultimately two of them signed contracts. Eliot Bujupi came over from VfB Stuttgart’s second team, which plays in the 3rd Bundesliga, not to be underestimated because loyal FIFA players know that this competition is included in the game. His statistics are impressive, as from the U17s to the reserve team, he scored 60 goals and provided 31 assists in no fewer than 90 matches.

The second new name added to the squad list is that of Reda Laalaoui. The tall (1.90 m) Moroccan is a fixture in the central midfield of his country’s U20 team, which will participate in the World Cup in Chile in two weeks’ time, where they have been drawn in a group with Brazil, Spain and Mexico. Reda will only join the group after this tournament.

The balance sheet at the Daio Wasabi Stayen Stadium did not look so good in 2024: three matches with three defeats, five goals conceded and none scored. It is time to get back to the period from 2005 to 2016, when we won no fewer than nine of our 12 encounters.

STVV is also the team we have played the most official matches against, with no fewer than 55 previous encounters on the programme.

STVV

Wouter Vrancken, a child of the club, has got his team back on track. The Truienaars are racing through this competition like a TGV, resulting in an impressive second place in the rankings.

In the last six matches, the same names have been on the starting line-up, something no other team in this competition can match, although they will be forced to make changes this time, as right-back Louis Patris recently made the move to national champions Union.

So who are these eleven (ten)? The four Japanese players, of course: goalkeeper Kokubo, left-back Hata and the two central midfielders Yamamoto and Ito. Then we have three compatriots: Robert-Jan Vanwesemael, who will probably be moved back one row to take over Patris’ right-back position, centre-back Rein van Helden and left-back Ilias Sebaoui, who joined this season from Feyenoord without having played a single minute there. Over two seasons, he was loaned out to Dordrecht (42 matches – 11 goals and 7 assists) and Heerenveen (35 matches – 4 goals and 1 assist). Visar Musliu, Abdoulaye Sissako (formerly of Kortrijk) and Andrés Ferrari are the other three names that regularly appeared in the starting eleven.

The eleventh name will most likely be Arbnor Muja, who is on loan from Turkish club Samsunspor and who wore the red and white shirt of Antwerp in 68 matches between 2022 and 2024.

Bram Van Driessche

He has been our match leader 18 times before, including 5 matches at the Kuipje and 13 away matches, with 7 draws and 3 wins (RWDM, KV Mechelen and Standard).

Our opponents will be less than thrilled to see him arrive: in 12 home matches, they lost no fewer than 8 times and only managed to win twice (Lokeren and Eupen).

Text and statistics: Peter Boons