Belgian Jupiler Pro League - Round 23 (Friday 30th Jan - Sunday 1st February)
The final weekend of January which ran into February saw Round 23 of the top division in Belgium take place and I was in attendance of four of the eight games over the weekend to take in some more European football and visit some more places and grounds for the very first time.
The weekend began in La Louviere, the capital of Centre region on Friday night (and after a dash over to Dunkirk in the French Ligue Two on Saturday afternoon, for a look at what happened in that contest, click here as I did a separate blog for that game https://pedroslocalfootiefix.blogspot.com/2026/02/dunkerque-0-annecy-1-billemaz-first.html) it was back into Belgium and the West Flanders region to the city of Waregem for a Saturday Evening match.
Sunday then saw me head to the popular City of Liege for the Belgium Classic as it's known before the final game of the weekend and of my Belgian Jupiler Pro League coverage ended in Leuven, the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant which is in the Flemish Region of the country.
Some nice places visited then, but what about the football, well let's now see what happened in each of the games attended, starting on Friday night in La Louviere.....
Friday 30th January
RAAL La Louviere Vs KAA Gent (Easi Arena)
This pitted fourth bottom (13th) against 5th, the hosts occupied the final relegation round spot and were just two points behind Westerlo who occupied the final spot in the next section of the division which have the chance to qualify for European places, however they were up against a Gent side who were inside that top six, The Championship Round, although that was only a gap of nine points.
And the hosts two games so far in 2026 have seen them take on two other sides in the top three, they won at Club Brugge in one those and narrowly lost at home to Sint-Truiden in the other, so they will certainly not be overawed by their opponents today although Gent have started 2026 in fine fettle, netting eight goals in total in their wins against Standard de Liege & Anderlecht, so both sides were heading into this one with a fair bit of confidence.
After having one of the nicest pizza's I've ever eaten in a small restaurant near the ground, we headed to what is a new ground for the hosts, built last year, called the Easi Arena, which is next to their old ground which is completely different to the new one, an athletics stadium, the new stadium holds just over 8,000, and their was 5,021 there to watch this Friday night game and get the top division up and running for the weekend.
It's a nice arena I must say and the seating well banked and plenty of leg room too, so a big tick there, would we get a good game to match, well the visitors certainly started well and curled a decent effort just wide of the post, but La Louviere settled and started to get themselves into the game, and they came oh so close to taking the lead when a free kick struck the bar.
The hosts had a couple of players who were running at defenders, which they hate, and they were certainly causing the visitors issues, Gent then had a great chance but headed over from close range, meaning the game was goalless heading into the break, their was a good atmosphere inside the stadium, and they were witnessing a tight contest for sure.
Would the deadlock be broken in the second half? Well, eleven minutes into it it was and it was Gent who got in front, a lovely cross from the left by Tiago Araujo found Hong Hyun-Seok at the far post who headed home unmarked, giving the very small number of visiting fans, around 20, something to cheer about, whilst the rest of the ground fell silent momentarily.
La Louviere though responded well and took it too the visitors, and roared on by a very noisy home crowd, finally levelled things up in the 81st minute although whether it was meant was up for debate, Gillot curled in a free kick from way out bit appeared to over hit it, but saw it catch out keeper Roef who saw it sail over him and into the top corner, cuing mass noise and celebration in the stadium.
Could they go on and win it, well not quite, as neither side could find a winner, in fact the visitors came the closest to winning it with a golden chance, but it meant the game ended all square and each side picked up another point. An enjoyable way to begin the weekend for sure!!!
Full time RAAL La Louviere 1 KAA Gent 1
Saturday 31st January
SV Zulte Waregem Vs KVC Westerlo (Elindus Arena)
Before the weekend began the hosts came into this one in tenth spot and only three points above the relegation round places and were up against a visiting side who were only two places and a point below them, so this was a pretty important game for both as the winner could pull themselves further away from the danger zone, and the losers could find themselves closer to that bottom four.
The hosts had certainly been involved in a couple of exciting games this year, an hugely important win over KRC Genk was followed by a seven goal thriller against Club Brugge which sadly for Waregem went against them, Westerlo themselves had only picked up a point in their two games of 2026, losing at home to second bottom Cercle Brugge before they managed a decent point at sixth placed Mechelen.
The Elindus Arena is a proper stadium, and sits on the edge of a lake and a nice park, it's a very nice setting, it has a capacity of around 12,500 and although it was far from full, around 6,500 were inside the stadium, it still produced a decent atmosphere for sure.
The hosts started the much the better side and could easily have been two goals up in the opening fifteen minutes, but they didn't take their chances and were made to pay in the 18th minute when with pretty much their first real attempt or attack of any note, Westerlo grabbed the lead, a ball in by Ourega found Nacho Ferri who could not miss from close range with his head, stunning the home crowd.
The home side seemed to loose their way a bit after that and what had looked like a promising evening for them was slowly becoming a frustrating one, and early in the second half it could have become even more of a bad evening as Westerlo had two great chances to put this game to bed as they came out of the traps with the bit between their teeth in the early part of the second period, but they could not find the net, and as the half went on the hosts were building up a head of steam again and creating plenty of chances.
But, it just wasn't their day in front of goal and they could not convert any of those chances that came their way, the visitors again had a chance to end the game but couldn't, and by the end they were clinging on for dear life as Zulte Waregem did everything but score, and the visitors could celebrate a very important win and grab their first win of 2026, how they did who knows but the hosts fall to defeat after what was a superb game and on another day would have probably won the game.
Full time SV Zulte Waregem 0 KVC Westerlo 1
Sunday 1st February
Standard de Liege Vs RSC Anderlecht (Stade Maurice Dufrasne)
Sunday afternoon was the battle between to giants of the Belgium game as 'The Belgian Classic' saw eighth placed Standard de Liege welcome fourth placed Anderlecht (positions were before the weekend began) with both hoping to end the season in the top six places and take part in that Championship Round at the end of the regular season.
This looks a tall order for the hosts currently based on form, they went into the winter break in the top six, but a terrible start to the year has seen them lose to Sporting Charleroi & KAA Gent without scoring, meaning at the start of the weekend they had dropped out of the top six and were five points off it, and in fact were closer to the bottom four than the top six, Anderlecht's 2026 so far hadn't been that good either, defeat to KAA Gent was followed by a very disappointing 0-0 draw at home to bottom side Dender, so neither side were in top form it was fair to say!!!
But this game is a biggie in this country, both clubs dislike each other and always wants to get one over the other, so to have the chance to attend such a fixture was a privilege for sure, it's one of the biggest fixtures on the Belgian calendar, so it was no surprise that the Stade Maurice Dufrasne, which has a capacity of 27,760, had almost 24,000 in it and boy were they creating some kind of atmosphere.
It really is a magnificent stadium, and when pretty much full is something else I can tell you, you could tell how big this game was and how much it means for both clubs and their fans, both were in poor form but that goes out of the window in such games in the main, who could grab the initiative in this one?
Just before the half hour mark the hosts grabbed the advantage, sending the home fans wild, it saw a ball in from the left hand side by Said find Karamoko who could not miss from close range, and oh boy did the atmosphere go up a notch after that, although Anderlecht then had two golden chances to level the game up, but failed with both, meaning the hosts would hold a slender lead heading into the break, it was tight, tense and keenly fought, unsurprisingly!!!
That atmosphere I was going on about, well after the players had taken the field for the second half, the home fans behind the goal decided to let off quite a few pyros, red ones, and at one point all you could see was red as the whole stadium was engulfed in it, breathing was fun, not, but man I had not seen anything like it, the Anderlecht fans tried to respond with their own pyros but they were nothing compared to the red mist that was created by the home fans.
This delayed the second half for a few minutes, but when it did get going again, and we could all see and breath again, Standard took a massive foot hold in the game when they doubled their lead three minutes after the break, Said turning scorer this time by lofting over keeper Coosemans beautifully to send the stadium bouncing with joy, well apart from the visiting section which was becoming increasingly annoyed.
After that the visitors did create some openings but were found wanting in front of goal, Standard were trying to kill the game with a third on the counter but they couldn't breach the visitors back line again, but they didn't need to and ran out winners of The Belgian Classic and picked up a much needed win in terms of their league position and also confidence too, and gaining bragging rights over their bitter rivals as well.
Full time saw the visiting fans give their players what for to put it mildly, and the Anderlecht players were made to stand in front of them and take it, it was an incredible spectacle whilst the home fans chanted some rather unsavoury insults at the visiting section, they really do not like each other that's for sure.
The home players went over to their fans and celebrated with them, I am not sure anyone from the home crowd wanted to leave, they were lapping it all up, a big win against a big rival, nothing comes close to it does it, what an experience and what an atmosphere, it certainly did not disappoint!!!
Full time Standard de Liege 2 RSC Anderlecht 0
OH Leuven Vs KV Mechelen (King Power at Den Dreef Stadium)
The final game of the weekend on Sunday evening saw a local derby between third bottom Leuven and sixth placed Mechelen heading into the weekend, with the hosts four points off getting out of the bottom four and looking to try and give themselves a chance of catching sides above them, Mechelen themselves were trying to cement a spot in the top six, anything other than a win could see them drop out of it if other results went against them.
Leuven though had failed to score in four straight games, two of those were goalless so a couple of points had been gained, and their last two, both this year, were very positive performances against the top two in the division, one of those was a 0-0 and the other a narrow 1-0 defeat, so they were solid you could say but they needed more against a Mechelen side who had also narrowly lost to the league leaders before grabbing a draw against a struggling Westerlo side.
Before we headed to the ground we took a stroll into the centre of Leuven it I must say it's a lovely place to visit, plenty of bars and restaurants and lots of sights to see as well, we found a nice place that did good food and beer, I had a couple of cherry beers called Kwak Rouge, it was 8% and rather tasty, it went down to easily so the walk back to the ground was in good spirits!!!
Now the Den Dreef, or King Power at Den Dreef, is a nice neat 10,000 capacity stadium, the King Power bit is from the owners, the same owners of Leicester City, who own both clubs, Leuven are a much smaller obviously but no less important of course, although with this being a derby there were only 5,919 inside the arena, their were an healthy contingent from Mechelen though, another fine city by the way, who were making plenty of noise.
The early exchanges saw Mechelen go close and were only denied by a brilliant double save from hosts keeper Leysen, whilst down the other end the hosts were denied by visiting stopper Miras who tipped over a curling effort brilliantly, but just before the half hour mark a blatant tug of the jersey handed the hosts a penalty, but VAR then had a look and after about four minutes told the referee to go over to the screen.
Very frustrating as we could all see it was a penalty, and the referee agreed and stuck to his guns and awarded the penalty, all very unnecessary, but thankfully the correct outcome, and Schrijvers kept his nerve to convert the penalty several minutes later and hand Leuven the lead in this derby.
It was a very good high tempo contest, and a contest that seemed to be heading the way of the home side when seven minutes into the second half they doubled their lead, a ball in was flicked on by Ominami into the path of Ikwuemesi who flung himself at the ball and headed powerfully in off the crossbar, clattering into the post for his troubles, he was ok in the end and now Mechelen looked to have a difficult mountain to climb.
Well, they took a step up that mountain just past the hour mark when they saw Servais lash home into the roof of the net to reduce the arrears and get the game well and truly back on, the hosts then spurned a great chance to restore that two goal cushion when they got in but instead of squaring to two unmarked players, didn't, and the chance went, madness!!!
And that moment proved important as with eleven minutes remaining Mechelen levelled the contest up when a ball across goal by Boersma was converted by Van Rafelghem, and heading into the final ten minutes it looked like Mechelen could go on and win it after looking down and out at 2-0 behind.
A frantic end ensued but ultimately neither side could win it, meaning this pulsating derby game would end all square, and great way to end the weekend although it could be important points dropped by the hosts after being in such a strong position in this game, fair play to Mechelen who come back to grab something, a truly enjoyable watch for sure!!!
Full time OH Leuven 2 KV Mechelen 2
Right, let's see how the Belgian Jupiler Pro League looks after all the games this weekend:-
Union Saint-Gillose, the current champions, netted a 1-0 home win over Club Brugge to open up a four point lead at the top, taking advantage of Sint-Truiden slipping up at home to Sporting Charleroi. the other two games not mentioned saw Antwerp thrashed struggling Cercle Brugge 4-0 and bottom side Dender losing 2-1 at home to Genk.
La Louviere point on Friday night sees them two points from getting out of the bottom four, Gent's point sees them remain in the top six but only on goal difference, Zulte Waregem's narrow home defeat sees them just above the bottom four, Westerlo now put four points between themselves and the bottom four courtesy of that win in Waregem.
Standard de Liege's win in the Belgian classic sees them now just three points off the top six and six points off Anderlecht, the side who lost that game, still in fourth but only three points ahead of two sides below them, one of those being Mechelen, who dropped out of the top six after this weekend although they did battle back to earn what could be an important point against Leuven who stay third bottom and four points behind 12th placed Zulte Waregem. Those two points lost could really come back to haunt them!!!
Anyway, that completes my blog on this weekend in Belgium, it's been a fantastic experience once again and I hope you enjoyed reading this and hopefully sharing these experiences through the blog, it really was a great weekend.
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