Gameweek three in the Belgian Pro League pits undefeated Standard Liege against winless Mechelen at Maurice Dufrasne on Saturday.
Les Rouches got a commendable win over defending champions Club Brugge last time out, and they seek to exploit the visiting side's defensive vulnerabilities.
Match preview
Standard Liege have started this season like a team keen to move on from last term's 12th-place finish, underlined by an undefeated start to the 2024-25 campaign.
Ivan Leko's men began with a clean sheet in a goalless game with Genk on the opening weekend before following that with an admirable 1-0 victory over Club Brugge on home soil.
Even at an embryonic stage of this season, beating the league's best side should be viewed as a statement result for a team keen to extend their undefeated start to the new campaign.
Having started last season with two defeats and a six-match winless run, the Liege-based side have sprinted out of the blocks this time, satisfying supporters at Maurice Dufrasne.
It took five matches before Standard Liege secured their first home league win in the previous campaign, but the Reds seek to notch consecutive wins at their stomping ground to start this season.
They hope to take advantage of their opponents conceding five times in their first two matches, with gameweek two's 4-2 defeat by Westerlo an early-season low.
That loss followed a creditable draw at the home of the league's defending champions in round one, and Besnik Hasi's men aim to notch their first victory of the new campaign at the third time of asking.
Malinwa's start to 24-25 somewhat mirrors the mixed results at the backend of the previous term, in which Hasi's side notched three wins, as many losses and one draw in their final seven matches of 2023-24.
Despite their topsy-turvy campaign, a mid-table finish was five places higher than the 2022-23 campaign and De Kakkers aim to build on last season's top-half finish.
However, improving on the joint-worst defensive record after two games is imperative to another praiseworthy year for the Antwerp-based club.
Team News
Arnaud Bodart played in goal 34 times last season, but the goalkeeper has missed the start of the campaign through injury, with Matthieu Epolo deputising, and the Reds could continue with the stand-in if the older Belgian shot-stopper is still absent this weekend.
Laurent Henkinet (knee), Souleyman Doumbia (thigh), Boli Bolingoli (calf) and Hakim Sahabo (knee) are all expected to miss out on Friday because of injury worries.
Bill Antonio is a long-term injury absentee for Mechelen due to a serious knee issue sustained in early March against Cercle Brugge.
Also absent for the visitors are Mory Konate, Jules Van Cleemput and Inter Milan loanee Zinho Vanheusden.
Hasi may reinstate Sandy Walsh into the backline at Toon Raemaekers's expense after the latter's horrid outing against Westerlo last weekend.
Standard Liege possible starting lineup:
Epolo; Fossy, Sutalo, Bates, Hautekiat, Lawrence; Price, Bulat, O'Neill, Kuavita; Kyei
Mechelen possible starting lineup:
Wolf; Walsh, Eynden, Marsa; Pflucke, Mohammed, Schoofs, Foulon; Mrabti, Dahl; Lauberbach
We say: Standard Liege 1-0 Mechelen
Mechelen have avoided defeat against Standard Liege in four consecutive meetings (two wins), recently notching a 3-2 victory in May 2024, and they seek to extend that sequence to five on Friday.
However, both triumphs have come in Antwerp with two visits to Liege ending in ties. Having started this league campaign positively, Leko's team will seek to prey on Mechelen's seeming defensive weakness to eke out a marginal win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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