Royal Antwerp FC – KVC Westerlo

The last one of the season. The final chance for three points. Kick-off is this Saturday, May 23rd at 20:45 at the Bosuil stadium. Who will come out on top: ’t stad (the city) or the parking?

KVC Westerlo

The 1-2 defeat against Standard on Tuesday hit hard. Yet pride still prevails: until just one matchday before the end, KVC Westerlo was in the running to win these Europe Play-offs. Everyone would have signed up for that beforehand. Nevertheless, KVC Westerlo started that match strongly. Haspolat put the Kemphanen ahead with a beautiful free kick. “It was my most beautiful goal so far. The ball went in nicely. Although I would like to see the footage again. I’ve taken a lot of free kicks this season, unfortunately rarely with success,” he admitted to the Gazet van Antwerpen.

We couldn’t enjoy the lead for long, because before halftime Standard turned the score around to 1-2. Especially the first goal conceded caused frustration for coach Charaï. “In the preceding phase, a clear push on Arthur Piedfort wasn’t whistled. Seiji Kimura got the ball against his arm. But he didn’t know where the ball was and didn’t make any intentional movement.” Once again, the painful weakness of this season was exposed: efficiency. KVC Westerlo recorded no fewer than 24 goal attempts, but failed to capitalize on that dominance.

The match was also dedicated to a club icon: Koen Van Langendonck. In his last home match, he was extensively put in the spotlight by players, staff, and supporters. Whether he will action one last time for KVC Westerlo on Saturday remains to be seen. Of course, everyone hopes so! For the duel at the Bosuil, coach Charaï cannot count on the suspended Piedfort (third yellow card).

Royal Antwerp FC

Antwerp traveled to Genk last Tuesday and held the Limburgers to a 0-0 draw. Because of this, Genk lost the leadership position to Standard. Antwerp itself is fifth in the play-offs with 28 points. Last week, the club said goodbye to coach Joseph Oosting. Assistant Faris Haroun is temporarily taking over as interim trainer. On Saturday, he cannot count on the injured Van Den Bosch, Hamdaoui, and Janssen. At Antwerp, there are a few players to keep an eye on: goalkeeper Nozawa (8 clean sheets), central defender Tsunashima (1 goal), midfielder Benítez (3 goals), and winger Kerk (3 goals, 5 assists).

Antwerp lined up in a 3-5-2 last matchday with: Nozawa, Van Helden, Ahoka, Tsunashima, Foulon, Benítez, Dierckx, Somers, Hairemans, Vandeplas, and Scott.

Our previous encounter

The previous encounter with Antwerp dates back to April 25th. It was a painful evening for KVC Westerlo. The Kemphanen started well, but after seven minutes Bayram had to pull the emergency brake when Janssen went through on goal alone. After VAR intervention, he received a red card, a turning point in the match. Antwerp took full advantage. Janssen opened the scoring in the 25th minute and doubled the lead three minutes later. Before halftime, it became 0-3 via Scott.

After halftime, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope when Sakamoto was able to profit from a misunderstanding at Antwerp in the 58th minute, making it 1-3. Two minutes later, that hope was quickly crushed when Kerk capitalized on a loss of possession in the defence of our Kemphanen and slotted home the 1-4. In the final phase, Saito managed to reduce the deficit to 2-4, but KVC Westerlo could not get any closer.

Did you know… 

• Van Langendonck can play his 225th match for KVC Westerlo on Saturday, if he comes into action.

• KVC Westerlo, with its high defensive line, has already caught opponents offside 50 times in 9 matches in these Europe Play-offs?

• Antwerp legend Patrick Goots is the top scorer in this head-to-head fixture with 6 goals? For KVC Westerlo, Toni Brogno scored the most, with 3 goals.

• KVC Westerlo has faced Antwerp 25 times before? The Kemphanen won 12 times, drew 6 times, and lost 7 times.

Referee