The important games of round 27 were played on Friday and Sunday. The games on Saturday where more or less important for the relegation battle, which in my eyes is already decided.

  • Gent - Standard: 2  - 0
    • A little blow for Standard because now they will start to feel the heat. Gent on the other side gained nothing with this victory, still on place 7 and they need the opponents to loose some points if they still want to have a chance on PO 1.
  • Eupen - Waregem: 2 - 3
    • Waregem is getting better and better in shape. They had a great winter transfer window and will do great in PO 2. Both teams have nothing to win or lose anymore in the regular competition.
  • Waasland Beveren - Kortrijk: 2 - 6
    • While the winner isn't surprising the score card is. Due to this game Kortrijk has a positive goal ratio. Waasland still needs 2 more point to prolong their stay in the Jupiler Pro League. Guess they will be glad that also Lokeren did loose their game, collecting 2 points out of the 3 remaining games will be a challenge for them.
  • Cercle Brugge - Oostende: 2 - 2
    • Cercle Brugge is safe with this extra point, but the coach of Oostende (Verheyen) will be furious. The equalizer was scored in the 88th minute of the game. A victory would have guaranteed Oostende a spot in PO 2.
  • Mouscron - Lokeren: 1 - 0
    • With this victory Mouscron has now reached a streak of 6 winning games in a row. Pretty impressive. It is the best performance of all teams in the top 10 of European competitions. Lokeren is doomed. If they win there remaining 3 games they could stay in the Jupiler Pro League. But nobody believes that this will happen!
  • Anderlecht - Club Brugge: 2 - 2
    • Club was the better team but Anderlecht did have the most chances! Nobody wins with this draw. Anderlecht remains on place 6 with only a 1 point advantage over Gent. Club Brugge still hasn't won a away game at Anderlecht in the last 21 YEARS!!! A pretty strange stat for a top team in Belgium!
  • Genk - Antwerp: 0 - 0
    • Another game without a winner. Genk maybe did deserve the win but they couldn't score. Antwerp only came for a point which was obvious. Due to this draw Antwerp isn't guaranteed a spot in Play Off 1 anymore. While they still have a 5 point advantage the team seems exhausted!
      Genk still has a 8 point lead but the Pozuelo saga keeps on going. They better get rid of him, so that the players can focus again on their performance on the field. It seems that he will stay for another  3 games, but if I was the coach he would stay on the bench. They do need to find a solution for playing without Pozuelo and can better use the remaining 3 games of the regular competition to try some things. If not, the solution has to be found during Play-Off 1, which would decrease the chances on taking the tittle!
  • St Truiden - Charleroi: 3 - 1
    • A well deserved victory for St Truiden! But still not guaranteed of a spot in PO 1. They have the advantage in points but also has the toughest schedule of all team which are still battling it out for PO 1. The Pro League also has decided that they want to get rid of the Artificial pitch in St Truiden, because it would give them a too big advantage compared to other team. This ruling should take effect from 2020 onward. Curious how this will evolve.
    • With this defeat Charleroi only has slim hopes on reaching PO 1. But if they don't win next week against leader Genk it is over and out, and they will be playing PO II!

Standings

3 more rounds to go and the battle for a spot in Play Off 1, never has been more interesting than this year. 5 teams battling it out for 4 remaining places. Who will make it and who will be forced the unwanted Play Off 2?

I will share my prediction about the round 28 on Thursday!

Cheers,

Peter