On Saturday Mar 12th, in week 31, Mechelen will play host to Sporting Charleroi in a clash of the Pro League. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 10 degrees, a perfect day for football. Mechelen sits at 6th place in the tables. In their last match they recorded a 1-1 draw against Sint-Truiden. Hugo Cuypers struck first for Mechelen in the 32nd minute, but Klauss got the equalizer for Sint-Truiden in the 61st minute earning Sint-Truiden a comeback draw. Mechelen should be reasonably happy with their recent performance, earning 17 points in their last 10 matches, while 7th placed Sporting Charleroi is fresh off their 0-0 scoreless draw against Standard Liège. Neither Sporting Charleroi nor Standard Liège could manage to put one past the goalie. They had 8 and 10 shots on net respectively, but no one could score, and the match ended in a 0 – 0 draw,. Sporting Charleroi is looking for direction having earned 12 points in their last 10 matches.
Mechelen and Sporting Charleroi last played eachother at the Stade Du Pays De Charleroi on the 26th of September. Mechelen took the match by a score of 2 to 0 in front of just over six thousand fans. Nikola Storm struck first for Mechelen in the 20th minute on a feed from Hugo Cuypers, then Jordi Vanlerberghe added another in the 81st minute In the end, Sporting Charleroi was frustrated by Mechelen’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Mechelen ended the match with the shutout victory.
Sporting Charleroi is having problems scoring lately. Their top scorers, Daan Heymans and Jules Van Cleemput each only have 1 goal in their last 5. Mechelen is fortunate enough to have Hugo Cuypers in top form. In the last 5 matches the attacker has scored four goals.