Commencing their first top-flight journey in over a decade, Dender will welcome Union SG to Dender Football Complex on Saturday afternoon for a Belgian Pro League clash.
Verbroedering are back amongst the elite of Belgian football after gaining promotion from the second tier, whilst Les Unionistes will be aiming for a long-awaited league title this term.
Match preview
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For the first time since the 2008-09 campaign, Dender find themselves back in the Belgian Pro League after an excellent campaign in the Challenger League last term, meaning that Saturday's hosts have now won two promotions in just three marvellous and exciting years for the club.
The picture at the top of the second division was extremely close and went down to the final day to decide who would be gaining automatic promotion, with Verbroedering eventually finishing just the single point ahead of third-placed Deinze, who were sentenced to the dreaded playoffs.
Scoring a brilliant brace in the final-day success over Challenger League strugglers Francs Borains in April to secure a top-two finish, Bruny Nsimba was an attacking force to be reckoned with last term, with the striker netting 14 goals in just 28 second-tier appearances.
Following such an amazing campaign, the vultures soon began to circle around some of Dender's top talents, including former head coach Timmy Simons, who has moved across the Pro League to join Westerlo, with the ex-Club Brugge player set to face his old side on November 2.
After suffering a heartbreaking relegation campaign with RWD Molenbeek during the 2023-24 term, Vincent Euvrard has been handed another crack at the Belgian top flight with Dender this season, with the 42-year-old desperate to prove that he can thrive as a Pro League coach.
Unlike the majority of their Pro League foes, Union SG have already commenced competitive action in the 2024-25 campaign, with Saturday's visitors to newly-promoted Dender picking up the first available silverware of the term in Brugge under seven days ago, getting one over a modern enemy.
Goals either side of the half-time break from Cameron Puertas and Fedde Leysen allowed Les Unionistes to seal a 2-1 success over Belgian champions Club Brugge in the Super Cup, meaning that the visitors to Brugge picked up the honour for the first time in their history.
The victory over Nicky Hayen's troops came during the first outing for new Union SG manager Sebastien Pocognoli, who is fitting into life well at Stade Joseph Marien as he prepares for his maiden voyage in senior management following spells within the youth ranks of Belgium and Genk.
Last season's title charge for Les Unionistes was fuelled by an outstanding record on the road, with Union winning 12 and losing just three of their 20 away Pro League matches, so the visitors to Dender Football Complex on Saturday should be overwhelming favourites.
That being said, Pocognoli's side are without two of their leading lights from the 2023-24 season, with Mohamed Amoura and Gustaf Nilsson both moving onto pastures new over the summer, meaning that a whopping 34 Pro League goals have been lost from the Union SG squad.
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Team News
Dender will enter the first fight of the Pro League campaign without the services of Michael Lallemand, who suffered a broken ankle in April.
In the absence of the veteran forward, even more of the attacking burden will be placed onto the shoulders of 24-year-old Nsimba and Ali Akman.
Despite having the off-season to recover, English centre-back Christian Burgess is not expected to be back in time from a foot injury to feature this weekend for Union SG.
Burgess's compatriot Ross Sykes has also been on the sidelines since the end of May, with the 24-year-old a major doubt for Saturday's trip to Dender.
Les Unionistes' supporters will be hoping to get a first competitive glimpse of a new attacking star, with Mohammed Fuseini joining from Austrian side Sturm Graz this summer.
Dender possible starting lineup:
Devriendt; Pupe, Cools, Ruyssen, Van Oudenhove; Hens, Rodes, De Bodt, Masangu; M'Barki, Nsimba
Union SG possible starting lineup:
Moris; Leysen, Mac Allister, Machida, Castro-Montes; Vanhoutte, Teklab, Sadiki, Puertas; Kabangu, Eckert
We say: Dender 1-3 Union SG
Finally headlining in the Pro League following a 15-year absence, there should be a special atmosphere for Dender on Saturday afternoon when the campaign commences.
However, Union SG are fresh off a Super Cup success and are likely to be too strong for the newly-promoted hosts at Dender Football Complex.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
