the 2017-18 belgian first division a will be the 115th season of top-tier football in belgium. anderlecht, who are the reigning champions, kick the season off this friday night with a trip to royal antwerp. antwerp, who were promoted via the play-offs from the belgian first division b last term, replace the relegated westerlo in this year’s division.
anderlecht are the most successful side in belgian football history, having won the title 34 times and finished runners-up on 21 occasions. way behind in second place are club brugge, who have won the title 14 times and finished second 22 times. after losing their title in the 2015-16 season, the purple & whites reclaimed their championship last year, ending the campaign on 61 points, two points ahead of brugge.
we’re all set for another thrilling title battle this term, with a number of clubs all believing they have a genuine chance of claiming top spot in the league. with our live odds comparison, we’ll be taking a look at the best odds and tips in our in-depth preview, giving you our pick on who we believe will be this year’s belgian first division a champions along the way.
the title contenders: can anyone stop anderlecht?
after winning the belgian title for a record 34th time last year, it’s no surprise to see anderlecht as the bookies’ favourites in the outright winner betting to retain their crown this year. rene weiler’s men are no doubt the strongest side in the division, and they will take some serious stopping once again.
last season, the club from the constant vanden stock stadium were determined to win back their crown from club brugge. on their way to yet another title, weiler’s boys won 18, drew seven and lost just five. four of those five losses came over the course of one month from september to november, when they dropped down to as low as sixth. however, they recovered superbly well after that, going on to win the title by two points.
it’s very difficult to envisage many teams rolling anderlecht over this season, especially as they have bolstered their squad in the summer. looking at the odds comparison, coral are offering the best price on the purple & whites to keep hold of their title, pricing them generously at best betting odds of 6/4.
their closest title challengers will no doubt once again be club brugges. they pushed anderlecht all the way last term, just falling short at the death. ivan leko’s men are certainly a strong outfit, but it will take another valiant effort to knock the champions off their thrown this season.
nevertheless, if any side are capable of doing so, it’s brugge. the blue-black are available at the best odds of 9/4 with ladbrokes to cause an upset in the race for this year’s belgian title. although those odds look decent, they will need to be extremely consistent all season to barge their way past anderlecht at the top.
in terms of the other potential candidates, gent and genk could also have a say in the title race. gent, who won the championship back in the 2014-15 season, finished fourth last season, four points adrift of third placed zulte waregem. as for genk, three-time winners of the belgian first division, they had a season to forget, as they finished in eighth, a substantial 13 points behind the eventual champions. you can back gent at 5/1 (coral), whilst genk are available at odds of 8/1 with ladbrokes.
in terms of value, betfair’s odds of 25/1 for standard liege to come out on top could be worth having a small punt on. despite finishing ninth last term, liege were only beaten eight times in the regular season. they are also 10-time belgian league champions, although their last title was in 2009.
fixtures to look out for: intriguing opening match for the champs
the opening game of the season in any league is always eagerly anticipated. even though antwerp have just been promoted, it will be interesting to see how they fare, as well as how anderlecht cope on the road.
looking at the pre-match odds, betway have the away side as their 3/4 favourites, with the draw coming in at 14/5 (betvictor). for those of you who fancy an early shock, unibet’s odds of 39/10 for a home triumph look tempting.
the following day, club brugge begin their campaign with a tough looking trip to lokeren. meanwhile, genk host waasland beveren. on sunday, gent travel to st truiden, while standard liege make the trip to mechelen.
the first eye-opening fixture of the new season, though, takes place next friday, as liege welcome genk to the stade maurice dufrasne. the first battle between last year’s top two is on november 3rd at the constant vanden stock stadium, with the reverse fixture taking place six weeks later in mid-december.
what else to keep an eye on: exciting season ahead
first and foremost, we’re expecting another entertaining season in belgium’s top flight. in truth, there’s not an awful lot to split the top through to the bottom in this league, although we still anticipate the usual suspects will battle it out for this year’s title.
club brugge will no doubt make life difficult for anderlecht, but we do believe weiler’s men, who have all the experience in the world, will go on and claim a 35th belgian league title.
the fight for a place in the top three should also be fascinating, with the likes of oostende, charleroi, mechelen, kortrijk and lokeren – along with one or two others – all hopeful of breaking in. there’s also the small matter of the fight for survival, with excel mouscron, eupen, st truiden and others all desperate of avoiding the drop.
our betting tips are for the outright winner betting though, so get on anderlecht now before those odds tumble.