Not the best stats, yet tribal number 1 is on 1: how Antwerp conquered the lead | Antwerp

With 162 given chances, only KV Oostende (164) does slightly worse than Antwerp. Striking: of those 162 chances, only 12, or barely 7 percent, ultimately led to a goal. That’s the lowest number of all first-graders. How come? Jean Butez (26). The French goalkeeper is in the shape of his life. Freed from competition with Iran’s No. 1 Ali Beiranvand? Except for a rare mistake against Charleroi, Butez has a clear season, no keeper in 1A makes so many saves. Someone is standing between the red and white posts. Butez just became a dad, fatherhood clearly gives him wings.

The Great Old may give away a lot in the back, but at the same time it is also the most goal-oriented club of all, with no fewer than 55 attempts between the posts on 122 goals. In addition, basic number 1 also links this to efficiency. With 19 goals from those 122 chances, no team can do better. It is not surprising that there is a phenomenon in the front with Michael Frey. No one worldwide has scored more this season than the Swiss. His five-hit against Standard (five chances, five goals) is a big part of that. The fact that Antwerp is at the very top is therefore largely due to the Golden Bull.

In the last 4 matches, Antwerp came back 3 times after falling behind. Also in Europe, against Nicosia, red and white showed that mental toughness. Character. Fighting spirit. Never give up: that’s the Antwerp DNA. 8 of the 20 Antwerp goals (that’s 40 percent) fell in the last third of the match. That extra tooth. Brian Priske can also draw from a broad, balanced core. If one player is through, another is ready. With 28 players, the Dane already used the most players of all first division teams.

Two of Eupen’s goals were narrowly disallowed. A goal was also missed at Union. Lucky you, but you force that, don’t you? Opponents of Antwerp get a lot of opportunities, but also mess up a lot. The inefficiency of the opponent also brought Antwerp points. Just ask Hein and Lemajic. The most striking statistic of all is the number of corners against. Antwerp has already received 90 (!) corners this season, no less than three times as many as Club Brugge. But, like Club, Antwerp only conceded one goal on a corner.

Antwerp was finally allowed to play in front of a full stand against Genk. The Limburgers have noticed. At Eupen, the away section drowned out the home supporters for 90 minutes. On Sunday against Ghent, Antwerp only woke up when the public started to get involved. Where a small part of the Antwerp 12th man still noticed in a negative way against Frankfurt, he much more often gives just that much-needed boost.

OUR REPORT. Moderate points for the players of Antwerp despite victory, one 8 out of 10 at AA Gent (+)