Cercle Brugge host Lommel SK on 28 August 2026 without Christiaan Ravych, who HLN Voetbal reports is heading to Racing Genk. The central defender is missing from the squad for the 20:45 home match, a game of great importance for Cercle after a winless start to the season.
Coach Friis's team currently sits thirteenth in the Jupiler Pro League with two points from three matches. Their recent form is LDD and they trail leaders Club Brugge KV by seven points. A victory against newcomers Lommel is therefore essential to get the campaign back on track. You can find the full table on our standings page.
Who replaces Ravych in defence?
Emmanuel Kakou takes the place of Christiaan Ravych in the heart of the defence. It is the only change to the starting eleven compared to last week's derby against Club Brugge. Friis also has other absentees to contend with. Tayo Adaramola, who came on as a substitute then, is missing from the bench, as are Adboulie Manneh and Heriberto Jurado.
The coach therefore called up youth players Lukas Torres and Sam Behaeghe for the matchday squad. The injured Van Der Bruggen, Hermann and Ndala are also unavailable. Cercle Brugge's starting lineup is: Coucke; Diakité, Kondo, Kakou; Magnée, Diaby, Mondele, Konaté; Vanzeir, Martens; Ngoura. On the bench are: Langenbick, Behaeghe, Caicedo, Agyekum, Nunes, Lazare, Michal, Torres, Kouassi.
What does the Ravych transfer mean for Cercle?
The potential transfer of Christiaan Ravych to Racing Genk is a major subplot to the match. HLN Voetbal reports that the defender, a former Belgian youth international, is on his way to Genk. That club wants to bring him in as extra competition for Smets and Kongolo.
Cercle Brugge hopes to receive around four million euros for the player. That money could provide a significant boost to the club's summer budgets. Losing an established player like Ravych is a blow, but the financial injection also opens up new possibilities. The current squad is listed in our squad overview.
What does Lommel look like?
Opponents Lommel SK, led by coach Lee Johnson, also arrive with an adjusted team. Juho Talvitie starts in place of the injured Nypan, who was forced off last week against Westerlo. Vancza is absent for personal reasons and Ralf Seuntjens is injured. Both were substitutes last week.
Lommel's starting lineup is: Pieklak; van Duiven, Eyoma, Wouters, Adewoye; Schoofs, Pelupessy; Reyners, Talvitie, Appuah; Konadu. On the bench are: Ivezic, Vandercraen, Gordic, Dada-Mascoll, Corthouts, Gooijer, Beirinckx, Reumers, Salah. Lommel are newcomers and will try to take their first points of the season at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
What comes after this match?
Cercle Brugge's focus is first fully on taking three points against Lommel. After that, another home match awaits quickly, on 6 September against KAA Gent. Gent currently sits sixth in the table, representing another tough test.
With five goals scored and six conceded this season, the defensive organisation needs to improve, especially without Ravych. The coming weeks are important to pick up points before more difficult fixtures later. The schedule for that period can be consulted in our fixtures.
