Standard Liege vs Genk Predictions

• Genk finished strongly last season with five wins and a draw in the play-offs to secure a Champions League spot.
• Standard lost their final four games last year, and have just one win in seven attempts in pre-season.
• Genk have already played a competitive game, going down 3-2 to league winners Club Brugge in the Super Cup.

Genk primed for strong start

The first round of Belgian fixtures take place over the weekend and on Friday Standard Liege kick off the new season with a home game against Genk.

Standard had a disappointing season by their standards last year as they came in sixth and ultimately failed in their bid to qualify for Europe.

Genk came in fourth and then managed three wins and a draw in the play-offs to seal a place in Champions League qualifying.

Standard had a miserable end to last season with four straight defeats and their pre-season form hasn’t been much better.  The Liege outfit lost their first two friendly games but are unbeaten in five since, with four draws and just one win.

Genk have fared better in their own pre-season campaign with three wins and two draws.  The Blauw-Wit have also played a competitive fixture as they went down 3-2 to champions Club Brugge in the Super Cup.

The visitors strong end to last season suggests they can open the new campaign with a victory.  It looks like there are plenty of goals in this Genk team, they forced nine shots on target in the Cup defeat to Brugge despite only scoring twice, but they have just one clean sheet in their last five games so a 2-1 away win is an option in the correct score market.