Leuven vs Genk Predictions

• Leuven won three of their final four home games last season and were the better side against Beerschot last week
• Genk won only one of their final 11 away league games of 2023-24
• Mathieu Maertens was in good goalscoring form in pre-season and came closest to breaking the deadlock in Leuven’s draw against Beerschot

Genk may lack the knowhow in Leuven

Leuven look capable of springing a surprise at home to a Genk side that finished last season poorly and remain a little out of sorts in the early going this term.

Oscar Garcia’s side won three of their last four home games in 2023-24 and finished comfortably in mid-table. They also had the better of an unexciting 0-0 draw against newly-promoted Beerschot last weekend.

Genk also played out a goalless draw in their season opener at home to Standard Liege. The team selected by Thorsten Fink had an average age of less than 22, making it the youngest of all the squads on opening weekend.

Maertens can be the man to decide clash

Blauw-Wit may be a team that get better with more experience, but winning away at Leuven may just be beyond them at the moment.

They won only one of their final 11 away games last season and lost the final four in a row, albeit they were in the Champions/Europa League play-offs and all hope of making the top two had gone by then.

One player who could make the difference in a tight contest is Leuven’s Belgian attacking midfielder Mathieu Maertens, who was the driving force behind OHL’s attacks last week. He had penalty claims in the first half and recently bagged twice in a 4-2 pre-season win over Waalwijk.