Limburg Derby: Preview
On Sunday, January 28, two major Limburg teams will come face to face in the highest Belgian series. The Stayen in Sint-Truiden will be the stage of this match in the Jupiler Pro League, in which two teams will give the best of themselves for the three points. KRC Genk and Sint-Truiden are not only competing for a better place in the Jupiler Pro League, but also to be able to call themselves the ‘Club of Limburg’.
Limburg Derby
A derby, anywhere, is traditionally never a normal match, and we have seen that many times. This time we get a provincial derby, between two important Limburg teams that play for the title of ‘Club van Limburg’: STVV and KRC Genk. The last time the two played against each other was on September 24, 2023. The end result was 3-3, with goals from Bilal El Khannous, Tolu Arokodare and Joseph Paintsil for Genk and three goals from Aboubakary Koita for STVV. The Limburg derby is therefore guaranteed to be an interesting and lively match with a healthy rivalry.
STVV
The Sint-Truidense Football Association has existed since 1924 and is the oldest of the two, but has never won the national title. Although they are playing well this year: the team seemed to be on their way to an upset against Union on Sunday, January 21, but thanks to a goal from Kevin Rodriguez in extra time, the Unionists still took home the three points. This left STVV in 8th place, 5 points behind Cercle Brugge.
This puts STVV in a higher place than their final position in previous seasons. Last year the Limburg team only finished in 12th place. In the same year it reached the quarter-finals of the Croky Cup, where this year it only reached the eighth finals and was eliminated by KAA Gent. The last final place for STVV in the cup dates back to 2003.
In the previous derby, Aboubakary Koita made history by scoring a hat-trick in just under six minutes. The attacker now plays for the Mauritania team, so the Canaries cannot count on his ability. Fortunately, his replacement was able to score, which makes the loss a little more bearable. Another important absentee from STVV is Zion Suzuki. He plays with Japan in the Asia Cup, and after two matchdays is in second place after Iraq.
KRC Genk
The Royal Racing Club Genk is a relatively young team, founded in 1988 from the merger of Thor Waterschei and KFC Winterslag. They play their home games in the Cegeka Arena in Waterschei. Although Genk is still a young team, it has already won the national title 4 times and the cup 5 times. Perhaps they can take some inspiration from last season, when they had a very good season, but just missed out on first place due to a cannon shot from Toby Alderweireld. They were also eliminated in the Croky Cup by Antwerp in the quarter-finals.
Genk is currently in 5th place in the Jupiler Pro League, two points behind Club Brugge. With 3 extra points, the Genkies would move up one place. The team just behind them, Antwerp, has the same number of points. The Limburg team was able to beat the Sinjoren 3-0, but drew against Cercle Brugge. In the preparations for the matches after the winter break, they won 0-4 against FC Lugano.
Genk also has to do without a number of basic players. For example, Joseph Paintsil is currently active for the Ghana national team at the Africa Cup. It is possible that he would return to Limburg earlier, because the Ghanaian team is only in 3rd place in their group after three games. Whether he will stay in the tournament longer depends on some Genk teammates. For example, in other groups, Alieu Fadera’s Gambia and Bilal El Khannous’ Morocco can ensure that Paintsil continues to play in Ivory Coast through a draw or win. And then one big Genkie remains absent: Joris Kayembe, who is number 2 with Congo in the same group as Morocco. So he will probably remain absent for a while.
Bet on the Limburg Derby
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