# 2017–18 Belgian First Division A

The 2017–18 Belgian First Division A was the 115th season of top-tier football in Belgium. The season began on 28 July 2017 and concluded on 20 May 2018. The fixtures were announced in early June 2017. Anderlecht were the defending champions but had to settle for third place with Club Brugge taking their 15th title.

## Team changes

* Westerlo was relegated after finishing last in the 2016–17 Belgian First Division A.
* Antwerp was promoted after winning the promotion play-offs against Roeselare.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

| Matricule | Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| 35 | Anderlecht | Anderlecht | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium | 21,500 |
| 1 | Antwerp | Antwerp | Bosuilstadion | 12,975 |
| 22 | Charleroi | Charleroi | Stade du Pays de Charleroi | 14,000 |
| 3 | Club Brugge | Bruges | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,042 |
| 4276 | Eupen | Eupen | Kehrweg Stadion | 8,363 |
| 322 | Genk | Genk | Luminus Arena | 24,956 |
| 7 | Gent | Ghent | Ghelamco Arena | 20,000 |
| 19 | Kortrijk | Kortrijk | Guldensporen Stadion | 9,399 |
| 282 | Lokeren | Lokeren | Daknamstadion | 12,000 |
| 25 | Mechelen | Mechelen | AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne | 16,700 |
| 216 | Excel Mouscron | Mouscron | Stade Le Canonnier | 10,571 |
| 31 | Oostende | Ostend | Versluys Arena | 8,432 |
| 373 | Sint-Truiden | Sint-Truiden | Stayen | 14,600 |
| 16 | Standard Liège | Liège | Stade Maurice Dufrasne | 30,023 |
| 4068 | Waasland-Beveren | Beveren | Freethiel Stadion | 8,190 |
| 5381 | Zulte Waregem | Waregem | Regenboogstadion | 12,500 |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
| Anderlecht | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | Leander Dendoncker | Adidas | BNP Paribas Fortis |
| Antwerp | László Bölöni | Faris Haroun | Jako | Star Casino |
| Charleroi | Felice Mazzu | Francisco Martos | Hungaria | Proximus |
| Club Brugge | Ivan Leko | Ruud Vormer | Macron | Daikin |
| Eupen | Claude Makélélé | Luis García | Nike | Aspire Academy |
| Excel Mouscron | Frank Defays | Dimitri Mohamed | Erima | Star Casino |
| Genk | Philippe Clement | Thomas Buffel | Nike | Beobank |
| Gent | Yves Vanderhaeghe | Nana Akwasi Asare | Jartazi | VDK Spaarbank |
| Kortrijk | Glen De Boeck | Hannes Van der Bruggen | Jako | AGO Jobs & HR |
| Lokeren | Peter Maes | Killian Overmeire | Jartazi | QTeam |
| Mechelen | Dennis van Wijk | Seth De Witte | Jartazi | Telenet |
| Oostende | Adnan Čustović | Nicolas Lombaerts | Joma | Willems Veranda's |
| Sint-Truiden | Jonas De Roeck | Steven De Petter | Kappa | Golden Palace |
| Standard Liège | Ricardo Sá Pinto | Sébastien Pocognoli | New Balance | BASE |
| Waasland-Beveren | Dirk Geeraerd | Rudy Camacho | Kappa | Circus |
| Zulte-Waregem | Francky Dury | Davy De fauw | Patrick | Record Bank |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Waasland-Beveren | Čedomir Janevski | Mutual consent | End of 2016–17 season | Pre-season | Philippe Clement | 24 May 2017 |
| Club Brugge | Michel Preud'homme | Mutual consent | End of 2016–17 season | Pre-season | Ivan Leko | 8 June 2017 |
| Kortrijk | Karim Belhocine | Replaced | End of 2016–17 season | Pre-season | Yannis Anastasiou | 20 May 2017 |
| Standard Liège | José Jeunechamps (caretaker) | Caretaker replaced | End of 2016–17 season | Pre-season | Ricardo Sá Pinto | 11 June 2017 |
| Sint-Truiden | Ivan Leko | Signed by Club Brugge | 8 June 2017 | Pre-season | Tintín Márquez | 22 June 2017 |
| Antwerp | Wim De Decker | Demoted to assistant coach | 16 June 2017 | Pre-season | László Bölöni | 16 June 2017 |
| Sint-Truiden | Tintín Márquez | Sacked | 7 August 2017 | 8th | Jonas De Roeck | 10 August 2017 |
| Lokeren | Rúnar Kristinsson | Sacked | 9 August 2017 | 15th | Peter Maes | 9 August 2017 |
| Anderlecht | René Weiler | Sacked | 18 September 2017 | 9th | Nicolás Frutos (caretaker) | 18 September 2017 |
| Oostende | Yves Vanderhaeghe | Sacked | 19 September 2017 | 16th | Adnan Čustović | 19 September 2017 |
| Gent | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | Mutual consent | 27 September 2017 | 14th | Yves Vanderhaeghe | 4 October 2017 |
| Anderlecht | Nicolás Frutos | Caretaker replaced | 3 October 2017 | 7th | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | 3 October 2017 |
| Mechelen | Yannick Ferrera | Sacked | 23 October 2017 | 15th | Tom Caluwé (caretaker) | 23 October 2017 |
| Mechelen | Tom Caluwé (caretaker) | Caretaker replaced | 1 November 2017 | 16th | Aleksandar Janković | 1 November 2017 |
| Eupen | Jordi Condom | Sacked | 6 November 2017 | 16th | Claude Makélélé | 6 November 2017 |
| Kortrijk | Yannis Anastasiou | Sacked | 8 November 2017 | 15th | Glen De Boeck | 8 November 2017 |
| Genk | Albert Stuivenberg | Sacked | 10 December 2017 | 9th | Philippe Clement | 19 December 2017 |
| Waasland-Beveren | Philippe Clement | Signed for Genk | 19 December 2017 | 7th | Sven Vermant | 5 January 2018 |
| Mechelen | Aleksandar Janković | Sacked | 24 January 2018 | 15th | Dennis van Wijk | 24 January 2018 |
| Excel Mouscron | Mircea Rednic | Sacked | 14 February 2018 | 12th | Frank Defays | 14 February 2018 |
| Waasland-Beveren | Sven Vermant | Sacked | 9 May 2018 | Regular season: 12th Europa League POs: 6th | Dirk Geeraerd (caretaker) | 9 May 2018 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Club Brugge | 30 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 68 | 33 | +35 | 67 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 2 | Anderlecht | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 55 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 3 | Charleroi | 30 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 46 | 30 | +16 | 51 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 4 | Gent | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 45 | 27 | +18 | 50 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 5 | Genk | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 44 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 6 | Standard Liège | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 44 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 7 | Kortrijk | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 42 | 39 | +3 | 42 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 8 | Antwerp | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 38 | 40 | −2 | 41 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 9 | Zulte Waregem | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 47 | 52 | −5 | 37 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 10 | Sint-Truiden | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 29 | 41 | −12 | 37 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 11 | Oostende | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 42 | 41 | +1 | 36 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 12 | Waasland-Beveren | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 50 | 51 | −1 | 35 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 13 | Lokeren | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 33 | 49 | −16 | 31 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 14 | Excel Mouscron | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 40 | 59 | −19 | 30 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 15 | Eupen | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 40 | 57 | −17 | 27 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 16 | Mechelen (R) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 31 | 49 | −18 | 27 | Relegation to First Division B |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AND | ANT | BRU | CHA | EUP | EXM | GNK | GNT | KVK | LOK | KVM | OOS | STA | STR | W-B | ZWA |
| Anderlecht | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 5–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Antwerp | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–5 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 |
| Club Brugge | 5–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 |
| Charleroi | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 |
| Eupen | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–5 |
| Excel Mouscron | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–5 | 3–2 | — | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Genk | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–1 |
| Gent | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Kortrijk | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| Lokeren | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Mechelen | 3–4 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Oostende | 2–0 | 3–4 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | — | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 4–2 |
| Standard Liège | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–4 |
| Sint-Truiden | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Waasland-Beveren | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | — | 2–2 |
| Zulte Waregem | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–5 | — |
* ↑ The match between Oostende and Genk of 27 December was cancelled as a heavy storm caused parts of the roof to come down shortly before the start of the match. As safety to supporters and players could not be guaranteed, the match was postponed until 16 January.

## Championship play-offs

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 34 points, Anderlecht 28, Charleroi 26, Gent 25, Genk 22 and Standard Liège 22. The points of Club Brugge, Anderlecht and Charleroi were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point would be deducted for these teams.

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CLU | STA | AND | GNT | GNK | CHA |
| 1 | Club Brugge (C) | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 46 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage | — | 4–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 6–0 |
| 2 | Standard Liège | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 43 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage | 1–0 | 1–3 | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| 4 | Gent | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 39 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| 5 | Genk (O) | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 38 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off final | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 4–1 |
| 6 | Charleroi | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 22 | −13 | 34 | | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | — |

## Europa League play-offs

Group A of the play-offs consisted of the teams finishing in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14 during the regular season, and the first and third placed team in the qualifying positions in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 joined the second placed qualifier from the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B in group B.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ZWA | KVK | EXM | OHL | W-B | LIE |
| 1 | Zulte Waregem | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 8 | +27 | 28 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off semi-final | — | 3–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 8–0 | 5–0 FF |
| 2 | Kortrijk | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 19 | | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| 3 | Excel Mouscron | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 14 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | — | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| 4 | OH Leuven | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 9 | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| 5 | Waasland-Beveren | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 23 | −11 | 8 | | 1–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 |
| 6 | Lierse | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 25 | −18 | 7 | | 1–4 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–5 FF | — |
* 1 2 Following the bankruptcy of Lierse, the team folded and forfeited its two remaining matches of the season.

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LOK | STR | ANT | OOS | EUP | B-W |
| 1 | Lokeren | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 21 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off semi-final | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 4–2 |
| 2 | Sint-Truiden | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 15 | +7 | 17 | | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 3–2 |
| 3 | Antwerp | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 16 | −3 | 14 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Oostende | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 14 | | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| 5 | Eupen | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 21 | −10 | 8 | | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 |
| 6 | Beerschot Wilrijk | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 7 | | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | — |

### Semi-final

The winners of both play-off groups competed in one match to play the fourth-placed or fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. Zulte Waregem received home advantage as they finished higher in the regular season. Despite going down twice with 10 men, Zulte Waregem won, which meant they advanced to the final to play for a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.

### Final

The winners of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs played one match to determine the Europa League play-off winners. The winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.

## Number of teams by provinces

| Number of teams | Province or region | Team(s) |
| 4 | West Flanders | Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem |
| 3 | East Flanders | Gent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren |
| 2 | Antwerp | Antwerp and Mechelen |
| 2 | Hainaut | Charleroi and Excel Mouscron |
| 2 | Liège | Eupen and Standard Liège |
| 2 | Limburg | Genk and Sint-Truiden |
| 1 | Brussels | Anderlecht |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of matches played on 23 May 2018.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Hamdi Harbaoui | Zulte Waregem | 22 |
| 2 | Teddy Chevalier | KV Kortrijk | 21 |
| 3 | Isaac Kiese Thelin | Waasland-Beveren | 19 |
| 4 | Kaveh Rezaei | Sporting Charleroi | 16 |
| 5 | Lukasz Teodorczyk | RSC Anderlecht | 15 |
| 5 | Abdoulay Diaby | Club Brugge | 15 |

### Hat-tricks

| Rnd | Player | Club | Goals | Date | Home | Score | Away |
| 11 | Isaac Kiese Thelin | Waasland-Beveren | 7' 20' 46' 87' | 22 October 2017 | Zulte Waregem | 2 – 5 | Waasland-Beveren |
| 12 | Brecht Capon | KV Oostende | 23' 49' 71' | 24 October 2017 | KV Oostende | 3 – 0 | Sporting Charleroi |
| 24 | Sofiane Hanni | RSC Anderlecht | 14' 41' 44' | 28 January 2018 | Standard Liège | 3 – 3 | RSC Anderlecht |
| 26 | Teddy Chevalier | KV Kortrijk | 38' 69' 83' | 10 February 2018 | KV Kortrijk | 4 – 0 | Royal Antwerp |
| 28 | Łukasz Teodorczyk | RSC Anderlecht | 45+2' (p) 57' 61' | 25 February 2018 | RSC Anderlecht | 5 – 3 | Excel Mouscron |
| 30 | Yuta Toyokawa | KAS Eupen | 73' 80' 89' | 11 March 2018 | KAS Eupen | 4 – 0 | Excel Mouscron |
| 33 | Hamdi Harbaoui | S.V. Zulte Waregem | 23' 61' 78' 85' | 14 April 2018 | S.V. Zulte Waregem | 5 – 1 | Excel Mouscron |
| 34 | Hamdi Harbaoui | S.V. Zulte Waregem | 53' (p) 54' 76' | 17 April 2018 | Lierse S.K. | 1 – 4 | S.V. Zulte Waregem |
Updated to match(es) played on 14 April 2018.

### Top assists

    As of matches played on 30 April 2018.
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Ruud Vormer | Club Brugge KV | 16 |
| 2 | Ryota Morioka | Waasland-Beveren/RSC Anderlecht | 13 |
| 3 | Hans Vanaken | Club Brugge KV | 11 |
| 4 | Idir Ouali | KV Kortrijk | 8 |
| 4 | Răzvan Marin | Standard Liège | 8 |

### Clean sheets

    As of matches played on 30 April 2018.
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Sinan Bolat | Royal Antwerp FC | 14 |
| 2 | Lovre Kalinić | KAA Gent | 13 |
| 3 | Danny Vukovic | KRC Genk | 10 |
| 4 | Matz Sels | RSC Anderlecht | 9 |
| 4 | Nicolas Penneteau | Sporting Charleroi | 9 |