!0th-placed Leuven are set to host ninth-placed KRC Genk at Den Reef in Belgium's Pro League on Saturday in each side's second league game of the 2023-24 campaign.
Last term, the home side finished 12th in the regular season with 29 points, while the visitors finished sixth with 47 points.
Match preview
The hosts began their 2024-25 campaign with a 0-0 draw against Beerschot on July 27, a match they failed to win despite dominating many attacking metrics.
In fact, Leuven had nine shots and six attempts inside Beerschot's penalty area, while also limiting their opponents to just one shot all game.
However, it should be noted that only two of these nine efforts were actually on target, and they only had 49% possession on the day.
Manager Oscar Garcia has been in charge since November 2023 and took over when the club were in the relegation zone after 12 league games.
Last term, Garcia's side scored 34 goals and conceded 47 times in 30 regular season matches, and this made them the division's 11th best offensive and best defensive team.
Leuven ended the season with four wins from their last six league fixtures at Den Reef, although they did lose 2-1 last time at home against Westerlo on May 25.
Opponents Genk also began their season with a 0-0 draw, but the result against Standard Liege on July 28 will have been even more frustrating than Leuven's draw against Beerschot.
Indeed, Genk had 20 shots, 75% possession and created more than 2 xG, but they still somehow failed to win.
If there was one positive for manager Thorsten Fink to take away, his side were defensively robust against Standard Liege considering they limited them to just four shots and one shot inside their penalty area.
Fink has only been in charge since June, and he took over from interim manager Domenico Olivieri, who himself replaced Wouter Vrancken following his side's disappointing championship playoffs campaign.
Fink's team scored 51 goals and conceded 31 times in the regular season, and these were the division's sixth-best offensive and joint fourth-best defensive records respectively.
Genk's away form in the league was poor at the end of the 2023-24 season, and they lost their last four matches on the road and won just twice in 11 away top-flight contests.
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Team News
The hosts will once again be without midfielder Sofian Kiyine, who has not played for the club since November.
Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi did not make an appearance for Leuven last week and could be subbed on in the second half if he is part of the matchday squad.
As for the visitors, they will without Luca Oyen due to a cruciate ligament injury, while Ken Nkuba was forced off in his side's last outing and is a doubt.
Elsewhere, Zakaria El Ouahdi and Bilal El Khannous are away at the Olympics with Morocco and will miss the weekend's game.
Leuven possible starting lineup:
Leysen; Schingtienne, Pletinckx, Akimoto; N'Dri, Schrijvers, Banzuzi, Mendyl; Maertens, Mueanta, Maziz
Genk possible starting lineup:
Penders; Sadick, Smets, Ditu; Sor, Karetsas, Bangoura, Fadera; Steuckers, Arokodare, Baah
We say: Leuven 1-3 Genk
Despite failing to score, Genk's performance in their opening league game was strong, and they should come into Saturday's clash as favourites.
With this in mind, the visitors could take advantage of Leuven's defensive vulnerability.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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