Our prediction for this Belgium Pro League match:
Antwerp take on Cercle Brugge at Bosuilstadion on Wednesday evening. Antwerp quickly bounced back from a 3-0 loss to Mechelen, with the team beating Gent thanks to Martin Hongla’s goal. The Cameroon international should keep his place in the starting XI, but the likes of Butez, Coopman, Nsimba, Pius, and Verstraete remain in the recovery room. Cercle Brugge, on the other hand, failed to win the previous nine league fixtures.
The Groen en Zwart sit in the relegation zone ahead of Matchday 25, and seeing that Antwerp aim to retain their spot in top four, we believe that there is a big value in betting on the hosts. Van Damme is a major doubt, while Deuro and Decostere are both sidelined with injuries. In their last meeting in the national championship Cercle Brugge defeated Antwerp, meaning that the hosts are hungry for revenge.
Highlighted Player (Lior Refaelov):
Lior Refaelov is an Israeli footballer playing as an attacking midfielder for the Belgium giants with whom he has been a mainstay since his arrival in 2011. Rafaelov began his career at Maccabi Haifa where he played 161 league appearances and scored 30 goals before moving to Belgium.
The experienced 30-year-old Israel international has made his senior debut for his country in 2007 and has since earned over 30 caps for Israel. Lior Rafaelov is a player of vast international experience despite the fact Club Brugge are his first and so far only club in Europe.
The 30-year-old attacking midfielder is a major force upfront who has scored six times during Brugge’s Europa League campaign in 2014-15, while he also scored the winner in the Belgian Cup final to earn his club a first trophy in eight years. Last season Rafaleov repeated the feat, having scored in the 2016 Belgian Cup Final, but it wasn’t enough for Club Brugge to avoid getting defeated 2-1 to Standard Liege.