Matchday 12 of the Belgian Pro League is in the books, with plenty of standout performances for this weeks team of the week, again in the 4-3-3 formation.
Goalkeeper
Maarten Vandevoordt (Genk)
Genk’s young Belgian goalkeeper made a string of good saves against OH Leuven on Saturday evening. This also included a penalty, which to be fair to the keeper was arguably the easiest of the saves he had to make. The young keeper will only be in Belgium for a couple more seasons before making the move to RB Leipzig in 2024.
Defenders
Marlon Fossey (Standard Liege)
Standards 24 year old American loanee Marlon Fossey put in a strong performance against table topping Antwerp. Operating more as a right-wing back/right midfielder, the Fulham loanee won all his tackles, while also winning both his aerial duels. Fossey was full of energy on the right hand side and was involved in the wonderful third goal for Standard.
Ross Sykes (USG)
Former Accrington Stanley defender Ross Sykes scored his second goal of the season as Union hammered Oostende 6-1. The goal showcased how Sykes can operate as a underlapping centre-back and clearly has a keen eye for getting in the box from time to time. At the other end, he won over half of his aerial duels and also had a 71% accuracy rate on long balls.
Joseph Okumu (Gent)
While Gent’s defence was porous in the midweek clash with Djurgarden, they were far more solid domestically against Mechelen. Once again Okumu stood out, with an impressive 14 recoveries and 67% of his ground duels won. His passing success rate of 76% was also impressive when considering he attempted nine long balls.
Eric Bocat (Sint Truiden)
Former Mouscron left-back Eric Bocat has only recently found his way into the Sint-Truiden starting XI, but his performances has certainly started to cement his place. Against Charleroi, he operated as more of a left-wing-back or left-midfielder in their usual 3-5-2 system. He completed four dribbles, the most in the match, including one which saw him beat a number of players. At the defensive end, he also won nine of his 13 duels as well as five recoveries.
Midfielders
Nicolas Rommens (Zulte Waregem)
Zulte Waregem’s 27 year old midfielder Nicolas Rommens has arguably been the one shining light from an otherwise disappointing season. In Saturday’s derby against Kortrijk he once again put in an impressive performance. His set pieces were creating chances, with the first goal for the away side coming from one. The second goal was also directly from a corner as Rommens picked up an assist for Noah Offors goal. Rommens will be a key player if Zulte Waregem are to beat the drop.
William Balikwisha (Standard Liege)
William Balikwisha barely featured at all for Standard Liege last season, and its becoming evident that that was a huge mistake by previous management. Under Ronny Deila, the young Belgian midfielder looks to have everything needed to be a top Pro League player. Against Antwerp, he opened the scoring and was influencing the play at all times. Defensively, he also ended up winning the most duels with nine. Another top performance from a player who is starting to become an essential piece in the Standard midfield.
Jean Thierry Lazare (USG)
Lazare does a lot of the leg work in the Union midfield. His high energy game was too much for Oostende at the weekend, as he completed the most dribbles (four) and won the most duels (eight) out of any player on either side. His 88% pass success rate was also impressive as he kept the side moving through the phases. Top that off with an assist and he comfortably made it into the team of the week.
Forwards
Kevin Denkey (Cercle Brugge)
Kevin Denkey has hit a rich vein of form in recent weeks, which culminated in his excellent hat trick against Eupen. The pandas defence struggled to deal with the Togolese striker all evening as Cercle romped to a 5-1 victory. His first goal showed strikers instincts to capitalise on a ball in the box, while his second showed excellent placement from a tight angle. The final goal was a wonderful long range strike that left Lennart Moser in the Eupen goal absolutely hopeless.
Dante Vanzeir (USG)
Starting this season it looked like Vanzeir was really missing strike partner of 2021/22 Denis Undav. However, over the past few weeks the old Vanzeir is certainly back. His two goals and an assist against Oostende on Sunday evening were typical of the player we have come to enjoy watching. He only needed four shots to get his two goals, showing the high level of efficiency that he has. If he has any hope of making the World Cup squad, more performances like this will certainly help his cause.
Antoine Bernier (RFC Seraing)
Antoine Bernier had an impressive performance against Westerlo on Friday night. He got the opening goal and continued to run in behind the home defence to try and stretch the game. The Frenchman completed 75% of his dribbles, while even winning six of his eight ground duels. Bernier has three goals so far this season, a far better return than last season where he only managed one goal in 29 matches.
As always, stats in this article are from the FotMob website.
Ben Jackson – GBeNeFN
