Blauw-Zwart travels to the capital for matchday 6 of the Champions' Play-Offs to take on Union. Here's everything you need to know.
The match
The Joseph Marien Stadium is the stage for the clash between Union and Club. After Thursday’s defeat, Blauw-Zwart are keen to set things straight. Union grabbed all three points at Jan Breydel despite registering just four attempts on goal – their lowest shot tally in the Jupiler Pro League since returning to the top flight. The defeat sees Club slip back to second place in the table, with Union becoming the third different side to top the Champions’ Play-Off standings in the space of a week.
The defeat was the first in 16 Play-Off 1 duels for Club Brugge, also ending a run of 32 league matches in which Club found the back of the net at least once.
Club only managed to beat Union once in the last eight home league fixtures (5D 2L), but that's different in the away matches where Club won five of the last seven confrontations since Union promoted in 2021 (5W 1D 1L).
In the Play-Offs, Blauw-Zwart registered three wins out of three at the Dudenpark: 0-2 in 2022 (Vanaken, Nusa), 1-3 in 2023 (Homma, Lang, Sandra) and 1-2 last season (Vetlesen, Meijer).
Club won its last six away matches in the Champions' Play-Offs, which is the best streak of all teams in the Jupiler Pro League. Should Club avoid defeat, they will go three months unbeaten on the road in the Jupiler Pro League.
Christos Tzolis is still the top striker for Club with 12 goals, four of which he scored in the Play-Offs. Hans Vanaken is still the assist king with 11 key passes.
After the last matchday, Club is already certain to play European football next season. It will be the 54th European campaign and the 32nd year running.
Brandon Mechele and Hans Vanaken are the two players who haven't missed a single minute in these Champions' Play-Offs
The opponent
Union is the new leader in the Champions' Play-Offs after their win on Thursday. For the first time ever they have started the Play-Offs with five straight wins. Union also registered the highest win percentage in this calendar year of all teams in the top ten European leagues.
Should Union come out victorious again on Sunday, it would be the their first time to register back-to-back victories against Club since the 1960-61 season. Union gathered 13 points out of 15 in their last five home games in the Play-Offs, scoring 13 and only conceding 2.
Promise David is Union's top marksman with fifteen goals. The Canadian forward failed to score against Club last Thursday, which ended his five-match streak. Anouar Ait El Hadj, Alessio Castro-Montes, Promise David, Franjo Ivanović and Anan Khalaili all assisted a goal four times.
Milestones
- Kyriani Sabbe can play his 70th game for Club Brugge.
- Hugo Siquet is in line to make his 25th appearance for Blauw-Zwart.
- For Maxim De Cuyper, it could mark his 70th league outing for FCB.
- Brandon Mechele is closing in on his 375th top-flight appearance. Having featured 18 times for STVV, Sunday could see him make his 357th Jupiler Pro League appearance in Club colours.
The match officials
Lothar D’Hondt will take charge of tonight’s top-of-the-table clash. He’ll be assisted by Romain Devillers and Nico Claes, with Jasper Vergoote serving as fourth official. Bram Van Driessche will oversee VAR duties, supported by assistant Quentin Lesceux.
D’Hondt has previously officiated two meetings between Union and Blauw-Zwart. Both of which ended in defeat for Club.