In Belgium, Genk take the lead into the top-6 championship group. They probably have to lose 4-5 of the remaining games for not to win the title.
Anderlecht were in danger of missing out, but picked up their results in 2019, with the arrival of Bolasie on loan and the emergence of a 17-year Verschaeren, who is a great crosser.
Once again this proves how little the regular season actually means anymore. With point totals cut in half, I think all teams will now feel they have a chance.
1. RC Genk (32 pts) - they were the best and most consistent team in the regular season, but these finals weeks of the regular season they slumped a bit; how will they handle being favourites in the grueling playoffs? Their best player and captain has today left the team for Toronto FC so it remains to be seen how much of an impact that will have.
2. Club Brugge (28) - I think they still have the best top-to-bottom roster in Belgium, but they were wildly inconsistent this year. Lost games to teams they should never lose to. Have to say there were a lot of injuries and a physically demanding CL campaign which took its toll. Remains to be seen how much they got left in the tank. They do have a great record against other top teams. I mean, as bad as they were against the smaller teams, they destroyed Genk (3-1), Standard (3-0), Antwerp (5-1), Gent (4-0) and beat Anderlecht as well. On a good day they're unstoppable.
3. Standard (27) - The most unpredictable team in Belgium, which they're pretty much every year. Went on a HUGE run during last year's playoffs, which they started 12 pts behind leaders Brugge and they almost won the league. The talent is there, but mentally they're pretty unstable. Their coach, Preudhomme, is a winner though. Very strong home team, but they tend to be bad on the road which could be their downfall.
4. Anderlecht (26) - Had a terrible season, yet here they are, just 6 pts out of first place. This might be their worst roster in ages, but they're still Anderlecht and they manage to win games they have no business winning. Started the season with a new owner, he came from a midtable team and for the first few months ran Anderlecht like they were a midtable team as well. Fired their coach and have improved since then, as gary69 said, with the addition of Bolasie who's sparked their offense, and the emergence of young Yari Verschaeren who looks like the new Tielemans. I literally have no idea what they're going to do in these playoffs.
5. Gent (25) - Like Anderlecht, they were horrible during the first half of the season, but have been climbing their way back up after hiring a new coach (Jess Thorup, who won the Danish league last year with Midtjylland) and getting an on loan striker from the Premier League (Alexander Sorloth frm Crystal Palace). This team could easily make a run. Their recent form has been excellent, they also reached the Cup Final, and they're probably a bit underrated by the teams above them.
6. Antwerp (25) - The wildcard team. The "new rich" from Antwerp have only been back at the top level for 2 years and they're already going to the championship playoffs. They've actually been in 2nd or 3rd place for most of the season, but the final month of the regular season has been tough for them. In my opinion, they're not going to challenge for a Top 2 spot, but this is a team everybody hates to play against. They're a hard nosed, defensive bunch, the most physical club in the league with a hostile home crowd. Out of all playoff teams, they do have the worst head to head record against the others, and that's their main problem. They mostly grind out wins against midtable and bottom teams, which they can't do against top teams. And if they fall behind, they have an extremely hard time coming back because their lack of creativity.
