Belgium Super Cup, Sunday, 20.07.2025, 18:30
The new season is about to begin! It’s time for the international Super Cups! The European leagues are returning from their winter break (or rather summer break) to determine the first title winners of the upcoming season.
I can now look to Belgium, where the game is usually played to a very high standard. The league champions against the cup winners? That’s exactly what I’m seeing in my Union St. Gilloise Bruges prediction! I’ve decided to place a champion bet.
Specifically, I’ve chosen “St. Gilloise will win the Super Cup.” Below, I’ll tell you what led me to this decision.
The odds for my preferred tip, which is also interesting, have jumped to 1.80 at Merkur Bets. And at Merkur Bets, it’s a good idea for every new customer to take advantage of the bonus of up to $100!
You know how it goes: the league champions take on the cup winners – and if we have a double winner, the runners-up move up. In Belgium, things are going very traditionally this year.
Bruges, the cup winners, host the league leaders, Union St. Gilloise. I’ll start my analysis with the supposed favorites, as Bruges has won far more titles in its history.
Let’s take a look at our top bookmakers: They have virtually no favorites! Bruges has odds of 2.60, while Royale Union has odds of 2.50, so everything seems to be up for grabs here.
The Blue and Blacks have lost two important players in Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton) and Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland), but were able to bring in €20 million in transfer fees for each. Striker Ferran Jutgla also left for Celta Vigo for €5 million.
Talbi and Jutgla scored a combined 13 league goals last season, so the duo are likely to be sorely missed. Let’s hope the new signings hit the ground running. To compensate, Bruges has helped itself to some big names in Germany.
Nicolo Tresoldi has joined from Hannover, Ludovit Reis has arrived from HSV, and Carlos Forbs has been snapped up from Amsterdam. So there are a few decisive changes that the team will have to integrate first.
Of course, the impressions from the test matches should be taken with a grain of salt. Bruges drew 1-1 against Rakow, 2-2 against Glasgow Rangers, and 2-0 against Korijik, but at least they didn’t lose.
However, the team knows only too well how quickly you can lose the Super Cup final. As luck would have it, it was exactly one year ago (also on July 20) that they suffered a 1-2 defeat – against Royal Union, of course!
Bruges has had 21 chances to win the cup, but only three times has it not ended well. Sounds wonderful, if it weren’t for last year’s experience. For me, this is the ideal segue to take a brief look at history.
Three wins from the last 16 games against St. Gilloise, no win in six games – that’s not exactly what the fans want to hear. However, four of the last six matches ended in a draw.
Not surprising: At Merkur Bets, the odds for a draw this Sunday are only 3.05. I wouldn’t mind if there was a nice penalty shootout in the first game of the new season.
This is only the second time in its history that Royale Union has reached a Super Cup final, but the team already proved on July 20, 2024, that experience isn’t particularly important here.
The same applies here: take a quick look at the test matches. 1-0 against FC Paris, 1-1 against Feyenoord and 0-1 against Eindhoven, plus victories against Ninove (1-0) and Rochefort (3-1) – those are the bare figures.
St. Gilloise secured the title in May with a fabulous championship round that no one thought possible, with nine wins, one draw, and only three goals conceded in the end.
Less pleasant: The Premier League also snapped up the second Super Cup participant. Noah Sadiki moved to Sunderland for €17 million, while Mohamed Amoura, who had previously been on loan, joined VfL Wolfsburg on a permanent deal for a similar fee.
Those are at least the most important transfer decisions of this summer. On the other side, Raul Florucz and Adem Zorgane will have to be integrated into the team.
Who is number 1 in Belgium? Union St. Gilloise impressed us all by securing the championship with a brilliant final sprint. Now the club wants to win the Super Cup for the second time in a row – in only its second appearance.
So early in the season, it is of course extremely difficult to predict who will come out on top and why. I’m going to consult history for a little help here, because it shows that Bruges doesn’t like playing against Royale Union.
For this reason, and perhaps also out of superstition, keyword July 20, I’m going for the following bet:
St. Gilloise will win the cup!
