Our prediction for this Belgium Pro League match:
All eyes will be on Ghelamco Arena when Gent and Anderlecht face each other in the Jupiler League derby on Sunday afternoon. Gent have been having their ups and downs of late, with the team sharing the spoils with Westerlo, beating Leuven, while losing to Club Brugge. All Andrew Hjulsager, Kamil Piatkowski, Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, and Tarik Tissoudali are sidelined with injuries, while Darko Lemajic is a major doubt.
The capital club, on the other hand, have been in a fine form of late, and, as a result, a win over Gent should see them climb to the Conference League berth. A man to watch in the away team will be January signing Islam Slimani, who scored a brace in a 2-2 draw with Standard Liege, whilst boss Brian Riemer has no fresh injury worries. Anyhow, we believe that there is a big value in betting on the in-form visitors.
Highlighted Player (Sven Kums):
Belgian defender Sven Kums began his youth career at Dilbeek Sport and in 1996 he joined Anderlecht. Despite spending seven years at the club, he did not see any game action with the Belgian giants at senior level. After ending his loan spells with the likes of Lierse and Kortrijk, he signed a permanent deal with de Kerels in 2008.
The 176-cm-tall midfielder, who was born on 26 February, 1988, scored 12 goals in 116 league appearances for Kortrijk and in 2011 he moved to Netherlands, signing a contract with Heerenveen. In 2013 he returned to Belgium, joining Zulte Waregem.
In the summer of 2014 he moved to fellow Belgian outfit Gent and at the end of the 2015/2016 season he signed a loan deal with Udinese. Kums has 12 caps for Belgium U21 and it has to be noted that his father Ludo Kums is working as a coach at Anderlecht. Sven Kums is a centre midfielder, but he plays as both attacking midfielder and defensive midfielder as well.
Highlighted Team (Anderlecht):
Founded on 27 May, 1908, Anderlecht are considered one of the oldest clubs in Belgium. The Paars-wit are the dominant force in the Belgian Pro League and in 2014 they won their 33rd domestic trophy. Anderlecht did remarkably well to win the UEFA Super Cup title in 1983, with the team defeating Benfica in the final of the competition.
The Belgian outfit recorded a 1-0 over the Eagles in the first leg, with the two teams playing out a 1-1 draw in the return leg. Anderlecht play their home games at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, the venue that was opened in 1917. The stadium was renovated in 1983 and current capacity of Anderlecht’s home ground is 28 063.
The Paars-wit have long-standing rivalries with the likes of Standard Liege and Club Brugge, whilst FC Brussels were considered the club’s bitter opponents in the past. The likes of Besnik Hasi, Lucas Biglia, Filip De Wilde and Romelu Lukaku are some of Anderlecht’s notable players.