Antwerp vs Union Saint-Gilloise: Belgian Pro League Prediction (26.07.2025)

On July 26, 2025, at 01:45 WIB, the opening match of the 2025/26 Belgian League season will take place. Antwerp will host Royal Union at their home ground. Despite playing away, Royal Union is slightly favored by the bookmakers. Below is an overview of both teams’ current form and a match prediction.

Antwerp

Last season was clearly a failure for “The Reds.” The team only finished fifth in the domestic league and had to fight for a spot in the UEFA Conference League. However, according to the league’s rules, Antwerp had to play a playoff against the best team outside the top six. Antwerp lost that playoff to Charleroi.

During the summer transfer window, the club wasn’t particularly active in strengthening the main squad. While there were many squad changes, most of them involved backup players. The core starting lineup has remained largely the same. Antwerp played three friendly matches in pre-season, but those games didn’t provide enough insight into the current form of the squad.

Union Saint-Gilloise

The capital club had an excellent finish to last season and even pulled off a major surprise. After the regular stage, they were in third place in the standings, trailing league leaders Genk by 13 points. At that point, it seemed like their chances of winning the title were gone. However, Genk dropped many points, while Royal Union went on a 10-game unbeaten run, with only one draw. As a result, they claimed the top spot with a 3-point lead over the nearest rival.

This season, Royal Union has already played an official match — in the Belgian Super Cup. On July 20, they lost 1-2 to Club Brugge. Sébastien Pocognoli’s side was let down by poor finishing.

Stats and Head-to-Head Record

In less than the past two years, these two teams have met 10 times. Royal Union has a clear advantage in head-to-head stats with 6 wins, 2 draws, and just 2 losses. Notably, in the spring of this year, Royal Union defeated Antwerp twice in dominant fashion with scores of 5-1 and 4-0. In 7 of the last 10 meetings, the over 2.5 goals bet has been successful.

Prediction

In the Antwerp vs Royal Union matchup, our prediction favors the visitors. Here, we trust the statistics, head-to-head results, and the difference in form at the end of last season. Therefore, we suggest betting on Royal Union with a 0 handicap (draw no bet) at odds of 1.57.