Antwerp will be without former Spurs striker Vincent Janssen and young defender Zeno Van den Bosch for their clash with RAAL this weekend. Antwerp’s head coach Joseph Oosting confirmed that he will not have either player available to face a side that he himself described as a ‘tough opponent’. Despite sitting second bottom in the table, RAAL have been a tough nut to crack defensively, with their real problem being at the other end of the pitch.

With both Janssen and Van den Bosch suspended, Oosting will have to look elsewhere at both ends of the pitch. Young striker Gerard Vandeplas had been set to take the former Spurs striker’s starting spot, but he is also suffering slightly with an injury. That could mean Marwan Al-Sahafi or Gyrano Kerk have to play more centrally, although neither really offer the same sort of striking option as the Dutch forward.

Janssen may well be playing his final season with Antwerp. After struggling at Spurs, the striker moved to Mexico and then came to Antwerp in 2022. Since then he has won the league once and the cup once, both in his first season. That year, Janssen grabbed 21 goals in 46 games for the side, more than he had managed across two and a bit seasons at Spurs. Since then, Janssen’s goals per season have declined, in no part due to the departure of other key players from Antwerp. He has still managed double figures every season, with 10 in 30 so far this campaign.