National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Mechelen or Cercle Brugge that keep their silverware dream alive.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Mechelen and Cercle Brugge.
Mechelen form and stats
Last season, Mechelen's Belgian Cup journey ended in the quarter-finals.Mechelen are steadily winning Pro League games and points here at AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne. 5 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats is the summary from 8 games.
Mechelen faced defeat in their previous match, away at Cercle Brugge (1-3). Gaëtan Coucke had a busy but productive day in the Cercle Brugge match. Despite making six saves the loss could not be prevented. Midfielder Vinicius De Souza Costa was the best player on the team with a rating of 8.13 (out of ten) in that game. Costa dribled past the opponent 5 of 5 times.
Ahead of that match, Mechelen won a home game hosting Club Brugge (2-1).The betting market estimate that the home team has about 55-60% chance of winning this match. There could be betting value if you think differently, so to help you here are the stats from Mechelen's earlier matches at home being 55%-60% favourite: Played eight games, won three matches, drawn one and lost four.
Another home game is coming up fairly shortly for the hosts, as Genk are coming to town in four days.
With an average of more than two goals per home game in the league (16 in 8 games), Mechelen's attacking play is working. Mechelen's goalkeeper has had to pick the ball out of their own net 11 times. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Cercle Brugge form and stats
Cercle Brugge's mission in Belgian Cup last season failed in the quarter-finals.2 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. That’s the product of Cercle Brugge playing as the away team in the Pro League this season.
Cercle had fun at their own home (AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne) last time out, beating Mechelen 3-1. Dino Hotić, Edgaras Utkus and Rabbi Matondo scored. Dino Hotić got a match rating of 9.1 in that game, top player of the team. Hotić scored one goal, signed up for two assists and hit three key passes.
The game before that, in the Pro League, was lost at home, a 1-2 defeat against Sporting Charleroi.Looking at the earlier recent performances of Cercle when being an outsider away as they are today, we find two matches with the visitors losing two times, drawing zero and winning zero games.
Cercle have another game away from home in just three sleeps, a Pro League fixture vs Kortrijk. A hard timetable for the guests!
Cercle Brugge find the net regularly in their away games. 10 goals from 7 away fixtures in the league. 10 goals have been conceded by Cercle in these games.
Head 2 Head
Head-to-head data (for the previous ten meetings): Mechelen won six games, one match ended with a draw and Cercle Brugge managed three wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: six / fourTop Goalscorers
  N. Storm 7 goals |  K. Mrabti 5 goals |  H. Cuypers 5 goals |
Mechelen missing players
Cercle Brugge missing players
| Mechelen | Cercle Brugge | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 15 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 11 | 8 | Won | W | 3 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Drew | D | 4 | 6 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Lost | L | 6 | 12 | ||
| 45 | 29 | Scored | S | 18 | 37 | ||
| 49 | 28 | Conceded | C | 22 | 37 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 88% | 93% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 92% | 88% | ||
| 76% | 87% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 62% | 64% | ||
| 60% | 60% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 31% | 24% | ||
| 16% | 13% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 15% | 12% | ||
| 76% | 87% | BTTS | BTTS | 92% | 76% | ||
| 12% | 7% | Clean Sheets | C S | 8% | 12% | ||
| 12% | 7% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 12% | ||
| 5 | 5.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.9 | 4.7 | ||
| 5.9 | 5.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.5 | 4.6 | ||
| 1.9 | 1.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.9 | 2.1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10.4 | 12.1 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.5 | 11.7 | ||
| 4.3 | 4.9 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.3 | 4.4 | ||
| 42% | 41% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 34% | 31% | ||
| 13.2 | 12.8 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 9.4 | 9.8 | ||
| 5.1 | 4.8 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.5 | 4 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Union Saint-Gilloise | 16 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 41 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 8 | 24 | 34 |
| 2 | Antwerp | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 27 |
| 3 | Club Brugge | 15 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 27 |
| 4 | Mechelen | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 28 | 28 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 0 | 26 |
| 5 | Sporting Charleroi | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 28 | 22 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 26 |
| 6 | Anderlecht | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 31 | 22 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 25 |
| 7 | AS Eupen | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 26 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 22 |
| 8 | Kortrijk | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 20 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 22 |
| 9 | Gent | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| 10 | Genk | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 3 | 21 |
| 11 | Sint-Truiden | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 23 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | -6 | 21 |
| 12 | Standard Liege | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 23 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | -6 | 20 |
| 13 | OH Leuven | 16 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 20 |
| 14 | RFC Seraing | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 21 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 19 | -7 | 19 |
| 15 | KV Oostende | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 19 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | -13 | 17 |
| 16 | Zulte-Waregem | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 35 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 12 | -12 | 14 |
| 17 | Cercle Brugge | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | -6 | 13 |
| 18 | Beerschot-Wilrijk | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 18 | -13 | 9 |