OH Leuven vs Standard Liège - Pro League

A decimated backline

Standard Liège arrive in Leuven without their starting goalkeeper Lucas Pirard, without Dimitri Lavalée or Josué Homawoo, both out for months, and without Laurens Goemaere. Add to that the absence of defensive midfielder Marco Ilaimaharitra, and the entire defensive axis has to be reworked. Keeping a clean sheet with an improvised defense is a different story.

Leuven are hungry at home

OH Leuven are propping up the table, 16th with 0 points, but they are not harmless at home: their last good night was a 3-0 win against Antwerp. A bottom club playing for its future in front of their fans, against a patched-up defense, smells like an opportunity. A caveat, though: Leuven also drew blanks twice recently, losing 0-3 then 0-2.

Standard know how to score

On the other side, Standard don't usually leave empty-handed: 9 goals in 6 matches, with Dennis Eckert Ayensa already on two goals this season and an Adnane Abid who feeds his attackers (6 assists). Even weakened at the back, this Standard side still has the tools to punish a Leuven team that has conceded eleven goals over the same period.

A Liège defense in shreds, a hungry but skilled host at home, Standard's attackers already in form: the bet for both teams to score follows directly from this match-up. Solid confidence in the principle, more measured on the execution, as Leuven remain capable of fluffing their lines like in their recent 0-3 and 0-2 losses. Avoid: betting on a Leuven win; a bottom club with 0 points cannot be bet on as a favorite.