Belgium Men Matchday 9: Unbeaten Léopold Host Herakles, Braxgata Face Gantoise
Sunday is a full card in Belgium, and the top of the table is where it gets interesting.
Léopold are still unbeaten. Eight games, six wins, two draws, 20 points, and a goal difference of +13. They host Herakles on Sunday, and Herakles are no soft touch: fifth on 13 points, 25 goals scored, and the kind of side that can ruin a good afternoon if you let them settle. The leaders have earned their cushion. Now they have to defend it against a team with nothing to lose.
The game of the day is in Boom. Braxgata, second on 19 points, host Gantoise, fourth on 14. Braxgata have scored 24 goals in eight games and lost just once, but Gantoise have scored 25 of their own and sit four wins from eight games. If Braxgata win, they stay a point behind Léopold and keep the title race a two-horse affair. If Gantoise take something, the gap at the top starts to look very different.
Champions Waterloo Ducks travel to Orée. The Ducks are third on 16 points, five wins from eight, and they need the points after last Sunday’s shock: promoted Namur beat them 2-1 at home. Orée sit eighth on 8 points with five draws from eight games. They don’t lose often. They don’t win often either. The Ducks can’t afford another slip.
That Namur side, bottom of the table on 3 points, host Beerschot, ninth on 6. It’s a proper relegation six-pointer, and Namur will fancy it after beating the champions. Beerschot have won once all season. Lose here, and the gap to safety starts to look ominous.
Elsewhere, Dragons host Daring in a basement battle both sides need, and Racing welcome Uccle Sport. Uccle are sixth on 12 points and still in the play-off conversation. Racing, seventh on 10, are right behind them. Three points either way redraws the middle of the table.
Six games, twelve teams, and a title race that is still genuinely alive. Léopold have the lead. Braxgata have the goals. Sunday decides whether the gap grows or shrinks.
Sunday 8 November, Matchday 9: Braxgata v Gantoise; Dragons v Daring; Léopold v Herakles; Namur v Beerschot; Orée v Waterloo Ducks; Racing v Uccle Sport.
