Cup Belgium, quarter-final, Wednesday, 08/01/2025 at 8:45 pm
The short winter break is over, the start of the new year 2025 begins with a knockout duel! The Belgian Cup quarter-finals are on the agenda this week, and the pairings are tough.
The fourth team is hosting the fifth, and it will be nuances that decide who advances. In my Antwerp Union St. Gilloise betting tip, I will tell you why I see a close match ahead of me and therefore bet on the “double chance 1X”.
Being the title defender – that’s an obligation! The Royale Union won the 2024 Croky Cup, which comforted fans and players a little over the fact that they just missed out on the league championship.
And who beat them in the final? Royal Antwerp, by the narrow margin of 1-0. The current opponents were also the ones who knocked Union out in the semi-finals in 2022/23, where the matter was decided on penalties.
So it could be the third time in a row that Antwerp is the last opponent in the cup. At the same time, it could be the club’s first-ever three-peat of at least a top-four finish.
In the first two rounds, St. Gilloise did not show any weakness. First, they won 3-0 against Eupen, then they beat Ghent 3-2. 0-0 and 1-1 – relatively little happened in the first halves.
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The current form of the Union could definitely be better. In the league, they are eleven points behind the leaders, and seven wins in 20 rounds is of course far too few – but they have only lost three times!
St. Gilloise loves a draw like no other team. Ten times already, which is exactly half of the matches, the points have been shared. With 18 goals conceded, it is definitely worth mentioning that they, together with Anderlecht, have the best defense.
Away wins? I count only one here, and that was scored shortly after Christmas in the 3-1 win against Genk. The team has already played 0-0 away four times, which is definitely noticeable.
Accordingly, this result bet could be worthwhile for you, with odds of 12.0 at Interwetten. With the Interwetten betting bonus, you can really cash in anyway.
Of course, it also pays to take a quick look at the history. Royale Union has lost two of the last twelve direct duels, which of course gives them courage in view of next Wednesday.
At the same time, it explains why the guests are slightly ahead with average odds of 2.30 to 2.95. Royal Antwerp have collected one point more in the league, so it’s not looking particularly strong either.
The team almost didn’t even make it to the cup at all, because they only advanced to the round of 16 against Kortrijk on penalties (4-3)! There were no goals here at all, which was in stark contrast to the 6-1 win against Deinze at the start of the competition.
With just one win in their last six outings in the league, it’s not as if Antwerp are brimming with confidence. They have also not managed to keep a clean sheet in two and a half months.
Is home advantage perhaps a decisive criterion? Since they haven’t won at home since the end of October, I wouldn’t necessarily answer “yes” to that.
Twice in a row, Royal has reached the final of the cup, so it is clear that the aim is to extend this small series. Interesting: It has been 18 years since the last time the club was knocked out in the current round, the quarter-finals.
The game between Royal Antwerp and the Royale Union should be very interesting, because neither of the two are doing particularly well.
In particular, the many draws of the guests have caught my eye in my analysis; there have already been four 0-0 draws away from home and just a single victory. This, of course, fits with the fact that Antwerp have not won at home since the end of October.
So, whichever way I look at it, I don’t really trust either club to take the lead in the quarter-finals. However, since Union is so weak away from home, I have decided to make the following prediction:
Antwerp will not lose the game!