Eupen were indebted to Cercle Brugge for their final day survival. After being humitliated on the final day by Club Brugge, had Zulte Waregem beaten Cercle then Eupen would have been relegated to the second tier of Belgian football. However, they have been given a second chance, but things may well be just as difficult over the 2023/2024 season.
Head coach: Florian Kohfeldt (Unattached)
Players in: Kevin Möhwald (Union Berlin), Bartosz Bialek (Wolfsburg)
Players out: Konan N’Dri (OH Leuven), Davo (Deportivo La Coruña, loan), Stef Peeters (free), Smail Prevljak (Hertha Berlin), Lorenzo Offerman (free)
Player to watch: Isaac Nuhu
At the end of the 2021/2022 season, Nuhu was being linked with big money moves to other Belgian clubs and European teams. Fast forward a season and the forward has barely been mentioned as a possible transfer target for teams. He only managed two goals and one assist in 19 games last season, losing his place in the side. If he can return to the promise he had shown before, and improve on his ability to create and score goals, he could prove to be a catalyst for survival.
Transfer Needs:
Eupen could probably do with a player for almost every position on the pitch, bar goalkeeper. They were defensively poor, and have not added anything new in this area. Bialek is the only out and out striker in the side, with the rest being players that are wingers more than forwards. They had this problem last year with Prevljak, and cannot afford to repeat the same mistake, especially as the Bosnian struggled to find the net regularly.
Prediction:
With the squad how it is, despite the experience of Kohfeldt, Eupen are set for a difficult season. Losing Stef Peeters will likely have a huge impact, as they don’t appear to have the means to replace a player that could provide them with goals and assists like he could. Anything other than the bottom four will be a very good season for the Pandas.
