On matchday 18 of the Jupiler Pro League, Club Brugge travel to FCV Dender. Everything you need to know about the match can be found below.
The match
On Sunday afternoon, Club head to the Football Complex of FCV Dender. It will be the eighth meeting between the two teams in the top division. Of the three previous trips to Denderleeuw, Club returned home twice with all three points and once empty-handed.
A month and a half ago, the two clubs faced each other at the Jan Breydel Stadium. Nicolò Tresoldi and Christos Tzolis ensured that Club took a comfortable lead within half an hour. However, the visitors managed to salvage some pride in the 91st minute through Mohamed Berte.
Christos Tzolis has already reached double figures for Club in the regular season. He has been directly involved in 10 goals for Club in the JPL. With 5 goals and 5 assists, the Greek forward is both Club’s top scorer and top assist provider. In total, over 1.5 years at Club, he has been involved in 55 goals (30 goals + 25 assists) in 84 matches.
Sunday marks Club’s first league match under new head coach Ivan Leko.
The opponent
On Sunday, Club Brugge travel to FCV Dender. Since their meeting with Club on matchday 14, Dender have remained unbeaten in the league and have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Croky Cup.
FCV Dender are still waiting for their first home win of the season (4 draws, 4 losses). At home, Dender drew against Cercle Brugge (0–0), La Louvière (0–0), Zulte Waregem (2–2) and Westerlo (2–2), and lost against RSC Anderlecht (0–2), OH Leuven (0–1), Union SG (0–1) and KV Mechelen (1–3).
The East Flemish side have scored an average of two goals per match in their last four games.
Bruny Nsimba in particular is in good form, with three goals in that period. The 25-year-old Belgian attacker of Angolan descent is the club’s top scorer with five goals. Along with Fabio Ferraro and Marsoni Sambu, Nsimba is also joint top assist provider (two assists).
FCV Dender have been coached by Hayk Milon since September. The former assistant coach of Club Brugge is the youngest head coach in the Jupiler Pro League at 32 years old.
Milestones
- Bjorn Meijer could play his 125th match for Club Brugge.
- For Kyriani Sabbe, it could be his 60th league appearance for Club.
The Man in Black
Mr. Bert Verbeke has been appointed as referee for Sunday’s match. He will be assisted by linesmen Mr. Kevin Monteny and Mr. Tom Vanpoucke, with Mr. Bert Put as fourth official. The VAR is Mr. Wim Smet, assisted by Mr. Gianni Seeldraeyers and Mr. Mehdi Sayoud.
It will be only the second time that the 28-year-old East Flemish referee will officiate a Club Brugge match. Earlier this season, he also took charge of the away league match at OH Leuven (0–1).