Dender vs Zulte Waregem Prediction

Right then, let's have a proper look at this Belgian bash-up. It's the classic tale of two teams going in completely opposite directions, innit?

Dender are having an absolute shocker of a season, aren't they? Rock bottom of the Jupiler Pro League with a grand total of ZERO wins from 13 games. That's not just bad, that's 'pack your bags for the second division' bad. They've managed just 4 points all season, and their recent form reads like a horror story: 0 wins, 3 draws, and 7 losses in their last 10. At home, it's even worse - they haven't won a single home game this season and are barely managing to score, averaging just 0.6 goals per game on their own patch.

Their recent results tell the story perfectly. A 2-1 loss to Club Brugge, a 1-3 home defeat to KV Mechelen, and they even struggled to beat lower league opposition in the cup, drawing 2-2 with Olympic Charleroi. The only bright spots? A couple of 1-1 draws against Westerlo and a goalless stalemate with RAAL La Louvière. Hardly setting the world alight, are they?

Now flip over to Zulte Waregem, and it's a different kettle of fish entirely. Sitting pretty in 8th place with 18 points, they've been proper decent this season. Their recent form shows 5 wins from their last 10 games, and they know where the goal is, averaging 1.8 goals per game. On their travels, they've been particularly tasty - winning half of their last 4 away games and banging in 2.25 goals per away match.

They've had some proper good results lately too - smashing Gent 4-1 at home, beating Antwerp 2-0, and even taking Charleroi apart 2-0 away. Yeah, they got dicked 4-1 by Union St. Gilloise in their last game, but Union are running away with the league, so we'll let that slide.

When these two have met before, Zulte Waregem have had the number. Two wins and a draw from three meetings, and both teams have scored in every single one of those games. The last time they played, it ended 1-2 to Zulte Waregem.

Looking at the stats, Zulte Waregem are averaging nearly three times as many goals as Dender this season (1.8 vs 0.7), and their away form is miles better than Dender's home form. The goal expectancy has Zulte Waregem at 1.82 goals compared to Dender's 1.05, which tells you everything you need to know about where the value lies.

The bookies have Zulte Waregem as slight favorites at 2.62, and given the massive gulf in class and form, that looks like proper value to me. Dender simply can't buy a win at the minute, while Zulte Waregem are scoring for fun on the road.