Sint-Truidense vs Cercle Brugge Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

With last season acting as a platform from which to build, St. Truiden will be looking to get off to a good start this time around when they take on a newly promoted Cercle Brugge side on Saturday.

Last season saw St. Truiden improve; they accumulated more points than the previous season, while they weren’t as easy to beat. Offensively, things didn’t quite go to plan, as they finished the regular season as the lowest scorers in the division, though they did improve in that respect once the league split. In fact, once the league split into its usual three groups, Marc Brys’ men ended the campaign as the highest scorers in Europa League group b, notching 22 goals in ten matches.

In terms of their pre-season form, Brys’ men have stuttered, though they’ve lost just two at home since March, so they ought to fancy their chances of making a good start to the campaign.

Truiden certainly didn’t set the league alight last season, though they were useful on their own patch, especially during the regular campaign and especially against the weaker teams. Before the division split in two, Saturday’s hosts won eight of their 15 home matches, while they only tasted defeat on four occasions at Stayen before going into the Europa League play-offs. What’s more, they showed themselves to be no mugs on more than one occasion, getting the better of teams such as Gent, Genk and St. Liege, all of whom finished in the top six.

With the above in mind, Truiden, who recently warmed up with a 1-1 draw against Olympiakos, really ought to fancy themselves against a newly promoted team, one that wasn’t overly secure defensively in the league below last season.

New to the top division this season, Cercle Brugge, who won the second division last time around, will be looking for a pleasing start to life in with the big boys of Belgian football. Saturday’s visitors by no means set the second division alight last season, finishing in third before going up as champions thanks to a play-off victory, while their pre-season form has been poor. Having conceded goals against the likes of Reims and Boulogne, two teams who ply their trade outside of the top flight in France, Saturday’s visitors could be in for a shock this season.

They may have ended up weaving their way through the play-offs to earn themselves a place in the top league, though their defensive efforts weren’t exactly great along the way. During the regular season in Belgium’s second tier last time around, Cercle Brugge conceded 24 goals in 14 matches, so it would be no surprise if they found it a struggle to keep teams at bay when playing on the road in the top division this season.

Considering how St. Truiden fared on home soil against the worse sides in the league last season, as they scored at least twice against both Mechelen and Eupen, the two teams who finished in the bottom two, coupled with how Cercle performed defensively when playing away in the division below, the bet that stands out at the prices is ‘St Truiden to Score Over 1.5 Goals’.