Cercle Brugge KSV vs Genk Prediction: A must win one for the visiting team

In the Jan Breydel Stadion in Brugge, the first match of round 30 of the Jupiler Pro League will feature a matchup between league-leading Genk and Cercle Brugge KSV. During the course of the previous weekend, both teams were victorious over their respective rivals. In spite of that, both squads will enter this encounter with high expectations, expecting to perform well and return to their winning ways.

After suffering a 2-0 defeat against Anderlecht in their most recent match in First Division A, Cercle Brugge will be seeking to bounce back with a better performance today. Throughout that match, Cercle Brugge held 39% of the possession and had 7 shots on goal, with only 2 of them finding the target. Anderlecht had a total of 18 shots on goal, but only nine of them were on target. Two of Anderlecht's goals were scored by Islam Slimani in the 9th and 85th minutes. In fact, Cercle Brugge have failed to prevent their opponents from scoring in 5 of their most recent 6 matches, which has resulted in them allowing 8 goals to be scored against them. When looking at their historical performance, it is clear that Cercle Brugge have not prevailed over KRC Genk in any of their most recent seven league encounters. In addition, Cercle Brugge has not suffered a defeat in any of their five most recent home league matches.

As a result of Genk's defeat in their most recent match in the First Division A competition, which was played against Union Saint-Gilloise, they will be looking to make amends in this match. Throughout that game, Genk had possession of the ball for 70 percent of the time and had 12 shots on goal, with six of those shots hitting the target. Bryan Heynen scored in the 24th minute for KRC Genk. On the other side of the field, Union Saint-Gilloise had 13 shots on goal, five of which were successful. Union Saint-Gilloise got goals from Bart Nieuwkoop in the 42nd minute and Simon Adingra in the 44th minute. At least three goals have been scored in each of Genk's last five matches out of a total of six, bringing their season total to five victories out of six. Over that stretch, the total average number of goals scored in each game was 3.33, and the number of goals scored by Genk on an individual basis averaged out to 1.83. While looking at the facts before the game, it is important to note that Genk have not been defeated by Cercle Brugge in any of their five most recent matches played away from home in the league. Also, in the league's most recent two matches played away from home, the team has failed to win.

This match is very significant for Genk since they are currently only five points ahead of Union Saint-Gilloise in the standings of the league. Even though it is impossible for Genk to win this match, it is still very necessary for them to do so because the distance will be trimmed again if they lose. But the team playing at home will also hope that they can be strong in this match just like they have been in other matches because they continue to have great ambitions of making it to European football for the next season. Because of this, we anticipate that Genk will pull out a narrow victory in this match since they have the superior team and we feel that they will perform well both offensively and defensively.