Zulte Waregem: Winter Report – Decline & Challenges

The belt may be even off! The clubs in the Jupiler Pro League are given a three-week winter break, not only to take a breather, but also to reflect on the near future. From January 16, there are still ten matchdays waiting that will be crucial, especially in view of the layout of the last edition of the Play-Offs. VoetbalPrimeur.be draws up a VP Winter Report for each club. In this episode: SV Zulte Waregem.

Performance during the first twenty matchdays

SV Zulte Waregem is again active at the highest level this season and had a more than solid start to the competition under coach Sven Vandenbroeck. For their part, Essevee started the season well with 18 out of 36 and seemed to keep themselves far away from relegation concerns for a long time.

However, things have been a lot more difficult in recent weeks. Zulte has been waiting for a new victory since October 18 and has since dropped in the rankings. After twenty match days, Essevee occupies twelfth place, with a three-point lead over OH Leuven. The comfortable margin of the beginning has therefore completely disappeared.

Of stats

• Biggest win: 4-1 (against KAA Gent)
• Biggest defeat: 1-4 (against Union)
• Top scorer: Jeppe Erenbjerg (8 goals)
• Meeste assists: Anosike Ementa (3 assists)
• Aantal clean sheets: 4
• Most striking stat: Zulte Waregem has not won a single league match since October 18.

The player core

Outstanding

Jeppe Erenbjerg
The absolute star of the season at Zulte Waregem. Without his goals and physical presence, Essevee would probably be in a much worse position. With eight goals, Erenbjerg is also the current top scorer of the Jupiler Pro League, together with Goto.

Disappointment

Enrique Lofolomo
The German central defender was acquired from Viktoria Köln, but is currently finding it difficult to adapt to the level of the JPL. Moreover, Zulte Waregem has only been able to win one match so far with Lofolomo in the starting line-up.

Trainer(s)

At the helm of Zulte Waregem is Sven Vandenbroeck, the coach who guided Essevee to promotion last season. This season he got the chance to prove himself at the highest level. Under Vandenbroeck, Zulte Waregem plays solid and organized football at times, although efficiency and results have been lacking in recent weeks.

Overall rating: 6/10

Zulte Waregem started the season excellently and seemed to be one of the surprises of the year. However, the subsequent decline was steep. Too bad for the West Flemish that they could not maintain the positive momentum from the opening phase.