Eupen vs Charleroi Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Having been presented with an extremely tough trip to Jan Breydel Stadium on match-day one, where they lost by five goals to two, Eupen will be pleased to return home. Back in front of their own fans, Claude Makélélé’s men will be looking to get their season up and running.

Match-day one brought little joy for Eupen, as they were simply outclassed on their travels, though there’s not too much shame in losing to the champions, while they did at times acquit themselves reasonably well. However, as was almost always the case last season for the team who conceded a staggering 57 goals in 30 matches during the regular season, Makélélé’s men were far too open defensively. Their opponents on this occasion can’t match Brugge for attacking strength, but they’re no mugs, so it’s fair to say that Eupen will have to improve their defensive efforts if they’re to gain a better result.

In truth, Eupen and defensive weakness walked hand in hand last season, and if match-day one is anything to go by, we could see something similar this time around. Even on their patch, where they conceded in 73% of their matches during the previous regular campaign, Eupen find it tough to keep teams out, though they’re by no means ineffective at the other end. Saturday’s hosts failed to score on just two occasions at home last season, while their attacking efforts weren’t too bad against Brugge last week.

The loss of their top-scorer from last season doesn’t help, though they’ve brought in a few players who collectively ought to be able to fill the shoes of the departing Mbaye Leye. What’s more, in veteran Luis Garcia, who claimed the third most assists in Belgium’s top flight during the last regular campaign, Eupen have creativity, so the likes of Ivan Yagan, David Pollet and youngster Eric Ocansey should do OK in terms of goals this season.

Like their hosts, Charleroi also came off second best last weekend, though their match panned out a little differently. In front of a home crowd, Charleroi, who’ll be eyeing up another top-six finish after last seasons’ antics, were undone by Antwerp, losing by a goal to nil. That result will of course worry manager Felice Mazzu, although he may be more concerned with the fact that this his side failed to dominate.

Last season did indeed see Charleroi do well, though their relative success was largely down to strong home form, or at least their away form towards the end of the regular campaign (and continuing into the championship group) waned badly. While they were tough to beat at home, Saturday’s visitors found it hard to keep teams out away, as they shipped at least once in 14 of their 20 travelling matches, including when losing 1-0 at this venue back in January.

At the end of the day, it’s still very early in the season, though Charleroi’s performance on their own patch last week was anything but encouraging. Eupen, who tend to do much better in front of a home crowd, may just have more about them offensively, while they’ve also got a very positive home record against Charleroi. Keeping this in mind, it’s easy to feel that the hosts should be firmer favourites ahead of this one. At the prices, backing Eupen, who at this early stage of the campaign, appear to be offering more offensively, to come out on top makes plenty of sense.