KVC Westerlo – R. Antwerp F.C.

After a week without competitive football, we are back in action at the Kuipje stadium during the last weekend of the summer holidays.  This will be followed by the international break, but before we get there, we have to overcome the hurdle of Royal Antwerp FC, the team with registration number 1.

KVC Westerlo

Due to the postponement of the match against Club Brugge, last week we opted to play a friendly match against Beerschot, where we saw a familiar trio (Messoudi, Van Ennào and Jordanov) back on Kempisch soil. As always, this was played behind closed doors and we won 4-2, thanks to two goals from striker Nacho Ferri.

Otherwise, there is little news to report from the Stille Kempen. Training has been hard and intensive, with some fun sessions on the programme to boost team spirit.

Since our second return to the Jupiler Pro League, we have played seven times against the men from “the city”, winning only once and managing two draws. However, our home record against the red and whites is very good. Twelve matches with eight wins and two draws.

R. Antwerp F.C.

Last season, we played against our former coach’s team (Jonas De Roeck), and this season we will face a former player, Stef Wils. During his career (2001-2018), he played for four Belgian clubs: Lierse, Gent, Cercle Brugge and Westerlo, where he played 88 matches in two periods (2006-2009 and 2011-2012).

This season, Wils was promoted from T2 to T1 following the departure of Dutch coach Andries Ulderink, who himself took up the position of T2 at German top club Bayer Leverkusen.

Five players from last season’s starting line-up are still there: goalkeeper Senne Lammens, although he is flirting with an offer from Manchester United and was replaced by Yannick Thoelen in the last game, central defender Zeno Van Den Bosch, central midfielder Doumbia and strikers Gyrano Kerk and Vincent Janssen.

The main newcomers can be found on both flanks: on the right flank, these are Glenn Bijl from KS Samara (Russia) and Thibo Somers from Cercle Brugge, and on the left flank, Daam Foulon from KV Mechelen and Marwan Al-Sahafi from Beerschot. The recently recruited Japanese central defender Yuto Tsunashima also seems to be heading for a permanent place. After five match days, the Antwerp team is nicely positioned at the top of the table in fifth place, without a single defeat.

The probable starting eleven: Thoelen, Bijl, Bozhinov, Van Den Bosch, Tsunashima, Foulon, Praet or Verstraeten, Doumbia, Somers, Al-Sahafi and Janssen.

Referee

Jan Boterberg will be officiating for the fourth time this season. In the past, he has refereed nine matches for us, including six at De Kuip, with a fine 2-0 victory against Anderlecht last year.

Text and statistics: Peter Boons