On Sunday 26 November, RSC Anderlecht and RWDM will play the Brussels derby, the first in some 20 years. The two teams from the Belgian capital will meet at Lotto Park, RSC Anderlecht’s home stadium. What can Jan Vertonghen and his team do against their city rivals?
Brussels, capital
They may not be able to bring in the best Brussels club of the moment, as that title is currently reserved for Union. That club is currently in first place in the Jupiler Pro League, and cannot be overtaken even after two games. But that won’t stop RSC Anderlecht, second in rank, from trying anyway.
The three Brussels clubs have long felt a certain rivalry between each other. And this is not just limited to the pitch: supporters also notice a difference in how football is experienced. Anderlecht has long been viewed as the “team of the fat necks”, which is often rhymed with elite and less typical Brussels supporters. Therefore, many Union and Brussels fans rather view the big brother as a national team. At Union and RWDM, although smaller teams, the stadiums do fill faster with more Brussels supporters. At RWDM, with Jan Boskamp as their signatory, the Brussels feelings are rather undisguised and deep-rooted: Brussels is Brussels, and football is football.
RSC Anderlecht
Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht was founded on 27 May 1908, and is affiliated to the KBVB with registration number 35. It has purple-white as its club colours and plays at Lotto Park. RSCA has been playing in the First Division since 1935. It has won the national title thirty-four times, the Belgian Cup nine times and the Belgian Super Cup ten times. Anderlecht is also doing well in Europe: it has won the European Cup II twice, the UEFA Super Cup twice and the UEFA Cup once. With those titles, together with KV Mechelen, it is one of two Belgian clubs that managed to win one or more European titles.
Anderlecht is currently in second place, with 28 points. The Mauves won 8 of the 14 games played, drew 4 times and lost 2 times. Only Standard and Union were able to win from them. That Union is also just above Anderlecht in the Jupiler Pro League, with 6 points difference. So if Anderlecht wants to be at the top, they will have to win at least twice and hope that Union’s series stops.
They can already count on Jan Vertonghen. He was in the starting eleven against Azerbaijan last week, so he has probably recovered enough from a nasty ankle injury. He also confirmed his availability himself. RSCA can also already look forward to Kasper Dolberg, who has already scored nine goals in 14 matches. With Thorgan Hazard and Anders Dreyer, he already forms a good attacking trio.
RWDM Molenbeek
Racing White Daring Molenbeek, known as RWDM, was formed following a merger between the Brussels football clubs Racing White and Daring Molenbeek, completed in 1973. This new club became national champions in 1975. Led by Jean-Baptist L’Ecluse, RWDM wanted to break the hegemony of city rival RSC Anderlecht. In 2002, the mountain of debt proved too high, and RWDM was no longer granted a professional licence. In 2015, the regulars were sold to Brussels-based project RWDM 47. Since the 2019-2020 season, it has played in professional football, and in 2022-2023 it could be promoted to 1A. Its tribal number is 5479. They play at the Edmond Machtens stadium, named after the mayor of Molenbeek between 1939 and 1978 and the driving force behind the merger in 1973. The most famous player is Jan Boskamp, he was the great figure of RWDM and the first foreigner to ever win a Golden Shoe.
The Molenbeek-based club is 10th in the Jupiler Pro League. They barely won 4 of their 14 games played, drew 5 times and also lost 5 times. A few weeks ago, on 11 November, they ended a tricky match series without victories. After seven games without a win, they were able to grab another three-peat in Eupen.
RWDM has been struggling with injury problems among its players for some time. Take for instance Mickaël Biron, he is out for a few months due to a meniscus injury. So it has had to play without basic pawns Kylian Hazard, Alexis De Sart and Florian Joncour for a while now. So at RWDM, they have to hope for some classy flashes from Makhtar Gueye. He has scored the most goals for RWDM so far, with six goals in 12 games.
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