Sunday evening will see Kortrijk host Sint-Truiden in what many believe is already a relegation six pointer. Both sides did impress in their opening day performances, but their light squads means that both are tipped to be in the bottom four this season. For the 2023/2024 campaign, the bottom four will be battling it out to avoid relegation in a play-off.
Aboubakary Koita’s stunning late strike saw the Canaries beat Standard Liege to open their season. In truth, Sint-Truiden had been impressive, with a very young squad creating chances that they just couldn’t convert. Unfortunately, this is the crux of the issue that many see the side having this season. Gianni Bruno was their main source of goals last year and he has gone, meaning even with a more attacking approach they may struggle to convert the chances they create.
For Kortrijk, they also impressed in their opening game against Gent. Unfortunately for the side they went down 3-2 to a Gent side who want to be chasing the title this season. It feels like their entire campaign is reliant on the transfer, or non transfer, of now club captain Abdelkahar Kadri. The talented Algerian got them off to a great start with his opener against Gent, but since then Ajax have been circling. Their initial €6m bid was rejected by Kortrijk, but there have been reports of the player changing agent to try and force a move. Without Kadri, the side will certainly lack real quality.
It feels to early to call this a six pointer, but in many ways if the season goes as predicted then come the back end, the side that does manage to win the game could well count this as a reason they avoided the drop.
GBeNeFNÂ |Â Ben Jackson
