Standard Liege hosts Genk in round 1 of the Belgian Jupiler League. The match will be played on Friday, July 23rd at Stade Maurice Dufrasne (Liège)
Standard Liege club failed the ending of the last season. The Reds, who finished 6th in the regular season, lost to all opponents in the playoffs for a place in the Conference League qualification and remained in 4th place. Because of this, Standard will miss the European cups for the first time in four years. In the summer, the club did not make any purchases but earned money on one player. It sold winger Michel-Angers Balikwisch to Antwerp, which paid € 6 million for the transfer. The Reds began preparations for the new season at the end of June. Standard Liege played six friendly matches (one victory, four draws, and one defeat). In their last home game on July 17, Mbaye Leye's men tied against French Rennes (3-3). After the first half the hosts were leading with a score of 3-0, but the sending-off of Amin Al-Dakhil helped the visitors to level the score and avoid defeat.
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Genk finished in 2nd place in the Jupiler League championship group. Thanks to this, the Blue-Whites got into the third qualifying round of the Champions League, where they will play against Ukrainian Shakhtar on August 3 and 10. In the offseason, Genk retained the backbone of the team, including striker Paul Onuachu, who caused interest among the English Premier League clubs. Beyond that, the Smurfs made a partial strengthening of the squad. They invited defenders Mujaid Sadick and Simen Juklerod, midfielders Carel Eiting and Mike Tresor Ndayishimiye, as well as striker Kelvin John. On July 17, Genk lost to Club Brugge KV in the Belgian Super Cup final (2-3). Van den Brom's men opened the scoring in the 44th minute with the efforts of Theo Bongonda, but the home team responded with Matej Mitrovic’s goal to gloom over in the locker room. At the beginning of the 2nd half, Brugge created a 2-goal lead within five minutes: Noah Lang converted a penalty and Clinton Mata scored the third goal. In the remaining time, Genk tried to change the situation on the pitch, and they managed to reduce the gap to a minimum after a goal by Ere Uronen in the third added minute.
Both teams prefer an offensive style of the game, so it is logical to expect wide-open football and high production. The visitors who scored at least two goals in seven out of nine previous matches are able to show good performance. Friendly matches of Standard Liege showed that the Reds are vulnerable on the defensive and are unlikely to keep a clean sheet. And Genk has a good chance to score more than once.
Prediction for the match: Genk to score over 1.5 goals
