1. Why is Anderlecht in the lead?
Anderlecht leads the way in front of the Club, despite an identical total of points (42). Bruges may have more victories in the playoffs and a better goal difference, but it must finish ahead of Sporting to be crowned champion since the classification of the classic phase is the tie-breaking criterion and Anderlecht (2nd) finished ahead of Club (4th).
The Union has a double advantage – strangely unnecessary given the specificity of the regulation -: she did not benefit from the rounding of points and finished first in the classic phase. It is therefore enough to return to Bruges or Anderlecht to pass in front.
2. What impact will the Cup have?
We will see more clearly on Thursday May 9, but the identity of the winner of the Cup will have an impact on the distribution of European tickets. If the Union wins, it is doing Genk and Cercle a favor since its classic phase winner's ticket will de facto return to the fourth, who will thus be qualified for the second preliminary round of the Europa League. The fifth would then compete in the European play-off against the winner of the “Europe Playoffs”, probably Ghent.
If Antwerp wins, it is the fourth of the Champions playoffs who will compete in the European play-off – or the fifth if Antwerp finishes fourth. It would be a cold shower for Genk or Cercle, since one of these two will certainly end up empty-handed while the other will have to go through the European barrier.
3. Who risks being demoby at the end of the playoffs?
Without making any pretense of intention, we will be curious to see who will still play what on the last day, where the first three will finish against the last three. If Genk is still four points ahead of Cercle, the last match of the two competitors could be without stakes and, who knows?, benefit one of the contenders for the title. That said, we saw during Union-Bruges last season that this does not always lead to the expected result.
