2017–18 Belgian First Division A

The 2017–18 Belgian First Division A was the 115th season of top-tier football in Belgium. The season began on 28 July 2017 and concluded on 20 May 2018. The fixtures were announced in early June 2017. Anderlecht were the defending champions but had to settle for third place with Club Brugge taking their 15th title.

Belgian First Division A

Season	2017–18
Dates	28 July 2017 – 20 May 2018
Champions	Club Brugge
Relegated	Mechelen
Champions League	Club Brugge Standard Liège
Europa League	Anderlecht Gent Genk
Matches played	240
Goals scored	687 (2.86 per match)
Top goalscorer	Hamdi Harbaoui (22 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Club Brugge 5–0 Anderlecht (17 December 2017)
Biggest away win	Eupen 0–5 Zulte Waregem (29 July 2017)
Highest scoring	Antwerp 3–5 Genk (13 August 2017) Sint-Truiden 4–4 Eupen (4 November 2017) Anderlecht 5–3 Excel Mouscron (25 February 2018)
Longest winning run	5 matches[2] Club Brugge Charleroi
Longest unbeaten run	11 matches[2] Club Brugge
Longest winless run	10 matches[2] Excel Mouscron
Longest losing run	6 matches[2] Mechelen
Highest attendance	Regular season 27,531[3] Club Brugge 2–2 Genk (17 February 2018) Play-offs 27,531[3] Club Brugge 1–0 Genk (2 April 2018)
Lowest attendance	Regular season 2,100[3] Eupen 0–0 Sint-Truiden (16 December 2017) Play-offs 1,498[3] Lierse 0–3 Excel Mouscron (31 March 2018)
Average attendance	Regular season 10,867 Play-offs 8,789
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 11 March 2018.

Team changes

• Westerlo was relegated after finishing last in the 2016–17 Belgian First Division A.
• Antwerp was promoted after winning the promotion play-offs against Roeselare.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Anderlecht

Antwerp

Brugge

Charleroi

Genk

Gent

Kortrijk

Standard Liège

Eupen

Lokeren

Mechelen

Oostende

Mouscron

Sint-Truiden

Waasland-
Beveren

Zulte Waregem

Locations of the 2017–18 Belgian First Division A teams

Matricule	Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
35	Anderlecht	Anderlecht	Constant Vanden Stock Stadium	21,500
1	Antwerp	Antwerp	Bosuilstadion	12,975
22	Charleroi	Charleroi	Stade du Pays de Charleroi	14,000
3	Club Brugge	Bruges	Jan Breydel Stadium	29,042
4276	Eupen	Eupen	Kehrweg Stadion	8,363
322	Genk	Genk	Luminus Arena	24,956
7	Gent	Ghent	Ghelamco Arena	20,000
19	Kortrijk	Kortrijk	Guldensporen Stadion	9,399
282	Lokeren	Lokeren	Daknamstadion	12,000
25	Mechelen	Mechelen	AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne	16,700
216	Excel Mouscron	Mouscron	Stade Le Canonnier	10,571
31	Oostende	Ostend	Versluys Arena	8,432
373	Sint-Truiden	Sint-Truiden	Stayen	14,600
16	Standard Liège	Liège	Stade Maurice Dufrasne	30,023
4068	Waasland-Beveren	Beveren	Freethiel Stadion	8,190
5381	Zulte Waregem	Waregem	Regenboogstadion	12,500

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
Anderlecht	Hein Vanhaezebrouck	Leander Dendoncker	Adidas	BNP Paribas Fortis
Antwerp	László Bölöni	Faris Haroun	Jako	Star Casino
Charleroi	Felice Mazzu	Francisco Martos	Hungaria	Proximus
Club Brugge	Ivan Leko	Ruud Vormer	Macron	Daikin
Eupen	Claude Makélélé	Luis García	Nike	Aspire Academy
Excel Mouscron	Frank Defays	Dimitri Mohamed	Erima	Star Casino
Genk	Philippe Clement	Thomas Buffel	Nike	Beobank
Gent	Yves Vanderhaeghe	Nana Akwasi Asare	Jartazi	VDK Spaarbank
Kortrijk	Glen De Boeck	Hannes Van der Bruggen	Jako	AGO Jobs & HR
Lokeren	Peter Maes	Killian Overmeire	Jartazi	QTeam
Mechelen	Dennis van Wijk	Seth De Witte	Jartazi	Telenet
Oostende	Adnan Čustović	Nicolas Lombaerts	Joma	Willems Veranda's
Sint-Truiden	Jonas De Roeck	Steven De Petter	Kappa	Golden Palace
Standard Liège	Ricardo Sá Pinto	Sébastien Pocognoli	New Balance	BASE
Waasland-Beveren	Dirk Geeraerd	Rudy Camacho	Kappa	Circus
Zulte-Waregem	Francky Dury	Davy De fauw	Patrick	Record Bank

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Waasland-Beveren	Čedomir Janevski	Mutual consent	End of 2016–17 season	Pre-season	Philippe Clement	24 May 2017 [4]
Club Brugge	Michel Preud'homme	Mutual consent	End of 2016–17 season		Ivan Leko	8 June 2017 [5]
Kortrijk	Karim Belhocine	Replaced	End of 2016–17 season		Yannis Anastasiou	20 May 2017 [n 1] [6]
Standard Liège	José Jeunechamps (caretaker)	Caretaker replaced	End of 2016–17 season		Ricardo Sá Pinto	11 June 2017 [7]
Sint-Truiden	Ivan Leko	Signed by Club Brugge	8 June 2017 [5]		Tintín Márquez	22 June 2017 [8]
Antwerp	Wim De Decker	Demoted to assistant coach	16 June 2017 [9]		László Bölöni	16 June 2017 [9]
Sint-Truiden	Tintín Márquez	Sacked	7 August 2017 [10]	8th	Jonas De Roeck	10 August 2017 [11]
Lokeren	Rúnar Kristinsson	Sacked	9 August 2017 [12]	15th	Peter Maes	9 August 2017 [12]
Anderlecht	René Weiler	Sacked	18 September 2017 [13]	9th	Nicolás Frutos (caretaker)	18 September 2017 [13]
Oostende	Yves Vanderhaeghe	Sacked	19 September 2017 [14]	16th	Adnan Čustović	19 September 2017 [14]
Gent	Hein Vanhaezebrouck	Mutual consent	27 September 2017 [15]	14th	Yves Vanderhaeghe	4 October 2017 [16]
Anderlecht	Nicolás Frutos	Caretaker replaced	3 October 2017 [17]	7th	Hein Vanhaezebrouck	3 October 2017 [17]
Mechelen	Yannick Ferrera	Sacked	23 October 2017 [18]	15th	Tom Caluwé (caretaker)	23 October 2017 [18]
Mechelen	Tom Caluwé (caretaker)	Caretaker replaced	1 November 2017 [19]	16th	Aleksandar Janković	1 November 2017 [19]
Eupen	Jordi Condom	Sacked	6 November 2017 [20]	16th	Claude Makélélé	6 November 2017 [20]
Kortrijk	Yannis Anastasiou	Sacked	8 November 2017 [21]	15th	Glen De Boeck	8 November 2017 [22]
Genk	Albert Stuivenberg	Sacked	10 December 2017 [23]	9th	Philippe Clement	19 December 2017 [24]
Waasland-Beveren	Philippe Clement	Signed for Genk	19 December 2017 [24]	7th	Sven Vermant	5 January 2018 [25]
Mechelen	Aleksandar Janković	Sacked	24 January 2018 [24]	15th	Dennis van Wijk	24 January 2018 [26]
Excel Mouscron	Mircea Rednic	Sacked	14 February 2018 [27]	12th	Frank Defays	14 February 2018 [28]
Waasland-Beveren	Sven Vermant	Sacked	9 May 2018 [29]	Regular season: 12th Europa League POs: 6th	Dirk Geeraerd (caretaker)	9 May 2018 [29]

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Club Brugge	30	20	7	3	68	33	+35	67	Qualification for the championship play-offs
2	Anderlecht	30	16	7	7	49	42	+7	55
3	Charleroi	30	13	12	5	46	30	+16	51
4	Gent	30	14	8	8	45	27	+18	50
5	Genk	30	11	11	8	44	36	+8	44
6	Standard Liège	30	11	11	8	43	41	+2	44
7	Kortrijk	30	12	6	12	42	39	+3	42	Qualification for the Europa League play-offs
8	Antwerp	30	10	11	9	38	40	−2	41
9	Zulte Waregem	30	11	4	15	47	52	−5	37
10	Sint-Truiden	30	9	10	11	29	41	−12	37
11	Oostende	30	10	6	14	42	41	+1	36
12	Waasland-Beveren	30	9	8	13	50	51	−1	35
13	Lokeren	30	8	7	15	33	49	−16	31
14	Excel Mouscron	30	8	6	16	40	59	−19	30
15	Eupen	30	6	9	15	40	57	−17	27
16	Mechelen (R)	30	6	9	15	31	49	−18	27	Relegation to First Division B

Source: Belgian First Division A (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.^[30]
(R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	AND	ANT	BRU	CHA	EUP	EXM	GNK	GNT	KVK	LOK	KVM	OOS	STA	STR	W-B	ZWA
Anderlecht	—	2–1	0–0	1–3	1–0	5–3	0–1	1–0	4–0	3–2	2–2	1–0	1–0	2–3	2–2	2–0
Antwerp	0–0	—	2–2	1–3	2–0	1–0	3–5	1–1	3–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	3–0
Club Brugge	5–0	1–0	—	3–3	3–1	4–2	2–2	2–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	3–2	4–0	4–1	3–0	3–2
Charleroi	2–0	1–1	1–2	—	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–2	3–2
Eupen	2–3	0–1	2–2	1–0	—	4–0	3–3	1–1	1–2	3–2	4–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–5
Excel Mouscron	1–2	2–2	2–1	2–5	3–2	—	0–1	3–2	0–3	1–2	2–2	1–0	1–3	1–1	2–2	2–1
Genk	0–1	4–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	—	1–2	2–3	0–0	1–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3	3–1
Gent	0–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	3–0	3–1	1–1	—	2–1	3–0	2–2	2–3	1–0	3–0	2–0	0–1
Kortrijk	2–2	4–0	1–2	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	—	1–0	2–0	1–2	2–1	3–2	4–1	0–1
Lokeren	1–2	1–1	0–4	1–1	3–0	0–2	1–2	0–3	0–1	—	2–0	0–3	0–3	1–1	1–1	0–2
Mechelen	3–4	1–2	0–3	1–1	1–0	0–2	3–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	—	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2
Oostende	2–0	3–4	2–3	3–0	1–0	0–1	1–2[a]	0–2	2–1	2–3	0–1	—	2–3	2–0	0–3	4–2
Standard Liège	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–0	3–2	4–3	2–1	0–0	3–1	2–1	3–2	0–0	—	1–1	3–1	0–4
Sint-Truiden	1–0	0–3	0–1	0–1	4–4	1–0	2–1	3–2	0–2	0–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	—	1–0	1–1
Waasland-Beveren	1–2	3–0	1–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	2–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	—	2–2
Zulte Waregem	2–3	1–2	1–2	0–4	3–2	2–1	0–1	0–1	2–2	1–3	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	2–5	—

Source: Belgian Pro League (in Dutch)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

1. The match between Oostende and Genk of 27 December was cancelled as a heavy storm caused parts of the roof to come down shortly before the start of the match. As safety to supporters and players could not be guaranteed, the match was postponed until 16 January.^[31]

Championship play-offs

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 34 points, Anderlecht 28, Charleroi 26, Gent 25, Genk 22 and Standard Liège 22. The points of Club Brugge, Anderlecht and Charleroi were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point would be deducted for these teams.

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CLU	STA	AND	GNT	GNK	CHA
1	Club Brugge (C)	10	3	3	4	17	12	+5	46	Qualification for the Champions League group stage		—	4–4	1–2	0–1	1–0	6–0
2	Standard Liège	10	6	3	1	20	9	+11	43	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round		1–1	—	2–1	1–0	5–0	1–0
3	Anderlecht	10	4	0	6	12	15	−3	40	Qualification for the Europa League group stage		1–0	1–3	—	0–2	1–2	3–1
4	Gent	10	4	2	4	8	8	0	39	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round		1–0	1–3	1–0	—	0–0	0–1
5	Genk (O)	10	4	4	2	13	13	0	38	Qualification for the Europa League play-off final		1–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	—	4–1
6	Charleroi	10	2	2	6	9	22	−13	34			1–3	0–0	1–2	2–1	2–2	—

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) Position obtained during the Regular season^[32]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Europa League play-offs

Group A of the play-offs consisted of the teams finishing in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14 during the regular season, and the first and third placed team in the qualifying positions in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 joined the second placed qualifier from the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B in group B.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZWA	KVK	EXM	OHL	W-B	LIE
1	Zulte Waregem	10	9	1	0	35	8	+27	28	Qualification for the Europa League play-off semi-final		—	3–0	5–1	2–2	8–0	5–0 FF[a]
2	Kortrijk	10	6	1	3	18	12	+6	19			1–2	—	1–1	2–1	4–1	2–1
3	Excel Mouscron	10	4	2	4	18	16	+2	14			1–2	2–1	—	5–0	1–1	1–0
4	OH Leuven	10	2	3	5	12	18	−6	9			1–2	0–2	3–1	—	0–0	1–2
5	Waasland-Beveren	10	2	2	6	12	23	−11	8			1–2	1–3	3–2	0–2	—	0–1
6	Lierse	10	2	1	7	7	25	−18	7			1–4	0–2	0–3	2–2	0–5 FF[a]	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.^[34]
Notes:

1. Following the bankruptcy of Lierse, the team folded and forfeited its two remaining matches of the season.^[33]

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LOK	STR	ANT	OOS	EUP	B-W
1	Lokeren	10	6	3	1	21	11	+10	21	Qualification for the Europa League play-off semi-final		—	1–0	1–2	2–2	3–0	4–2
2	Sint-Truiden	10	5	2	3	22	15	+7	17			1–1	—	4–0	4–1	2–3	3–2
3	Antwerp	10	4	2	4	13	16	−3	14			1–2	1–2	—	3–3	2–1	2–0
4	Oostende	10	3	5	2	21	18	+3	14			1–3	2–2	3–1	—	1–1	2–2
5	Eupen	10	2	2	6	11	21	−10	8			0–2	3–1	0–1	0–4	—	2–2
6	Beerschot Wilrijk	10	1	4	5	14	21	−7	7			2–2	1–3	0–0	0–2	3–1	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.^[35]

Semi-final

The winners of both play-off groups competed in one match to play the fourth-placed or fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. Zulte Waregem received home advantage as they finished higher in the regular season. Despite going down twice with 10 men, Zulte Waregem won, which meant they advanced to the final to play for a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.

Zulte Waregem	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Lokeren
De fauw 90+3' Šaponjić 114'	Sporza	Cevallos 89' Mareček 96'
Penalties
Derijck De fauw Hämäläinen Šaponjić Harbaoui	4–3	Skúlason Rassoul Mareček Söder Cevallos

23 May 2018 (2018-05-23)

20:30 CEST

Regenboogstadion, Waregem

Referee: Sébastien Delferière

Final

The winners of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs played one match to determine the Europa League play-off winners. The winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.

Genk	2–0	Zulte-Waregem
Samatta 17' Trossard 28'	Report

27 May 2018 (2018-05-27)

18:00 CEST

Luminus Arena, Genk

Referee: Bart Vertenten

Number of teams by provinces

Number of teams	Province or region	Team(s)
4	West Flanders	Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem
3	East Flanders	Gent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren
2	Antwerp	Antwerp and Mechelen
	Hainaut	Charleroi and Excel Mouscron
	Liège	Eupen and Standard Liège
	Limburg	Genk and Sint-Truiden
1	Brussels	Anderlecht

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of matches played on 23 May 2018.^[36]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Hamdi Harbaoui	Zulte Waregem	22
2	Teddy Chevalier	KV Kortrijk	21
3	Isaac Kiese Thelin	Waasland-Beveren	19
4	Kaveh Rezaei	Sporting Charleroi	16
5	Lukasz Teodorczyk	RSC Anderlecht	15
	Abdoulay Diaby	Club Brugge	15

Hat-tricks

Rnd	Player	Club	Goals	Date	Home	Score	Away
11	Isaac Kiese Thelin	Waasland-Beveren	7'  20'  46'  87'	22 October 2017	Zulte Waregem	2 – 5	Waasland-Beveren
12	Brecht Capon	KV Oostende	23'  49'  71'	24 October 2017	KV Oostende	3 – 0	Sporting Charleroi
24	Sofiane Hanni	RSC Anderlecht	14'  41'  44'	28 January 2018	Standard Liège	3 – 3	RSC Anderlecht
26	Teddy Chevalier	KV Kortrijk	38'  69'  83'	10 February 2018	KV Kortrijk	4 – 0	Royal Antwerp
28	Łukasz Teodorczyk	RSC Anderlecht	45+2' (pen.)  57'  61'	25 February 2018	RSC Anderlecht	5 – 3	Excel Mouscron
30	Yuta Toyokawa	KAS Eupen	73'  80'  89'	11 March 2018	KAS Eupen	4 – 0	Excel Mouscron
33	Hamdi Harbaoui	S.V. Zulte Waregem	23'  61'  78'  85'	14 April 2018	S.V. Zulte Waregem	5 – 1	Excel Mouscron
34	Hamdi Harbaoui	S.V. Zulte Waregem	53' (pen.)  54'  76'	17 April 2018	Lierse S.K.	1 – 4	S.V. Zulte Waregem

Updated to match(es) played on 14 April 2018.

Top assists

As of matches played on 30 April 2018.^[37]

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Ruud Vormer	Club Brugge KV	16
2	Ryota Morioka	Waasland-Beveren/RSC Anderlecht	13
3	Hans Vanaken	Club Brugge KV	11
4	Idir Ouali	KV Kortrijk	8
	Răzvan Marin	Standard Liège	8

Clean sheets

As of matches played on 30 April 2018.^[38]

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Sinan Bolat	Royal Antwerp FC	14
2	Lovre Kalinić	KAA Gent	13
3	Danny Vukovic	KRC Genk	10
4	Matz Sels	RSC Anderlecht	9
	Nicolas Penneteau	Sporting Charleroi	9

Notes

1. Anastasiou was announced as manager on 24 April 2017 but only replaced Karim Belhocine after the final match of the season.