# 2020–21 K.R.C. Genk season

The 2020–21 K.R.C. Genk season was the club's 33rd season in existence and the 26th consecutive season in the top flight of Belgian football. In addition to the domestic league, Genk participated in this season's edition of the Belgian Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 1 February 2021
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Danny Vukovic (captain) |
| 2 | DF | USA | Mark McKenzie |
| 4 | MF | BEL | Dries Wouters |
| 5 | DF | MEX | Gerardo Arteaga |
| 7 | FW | JPN | Junya Ito |
| 8 | MF | BEL | Bryan Heynen |
| 9 | FW | NGA | Cyriel Dessers |
| 10 | FW | BEL | Théo Bongonda |
| 11 | MF | SUI | Bastien Toma |
| 17 | MF | SVK | Patrik Hrošovský |
| 18 | FW | NGA | Paul Onuachu |
| 21 | DF | FIN | Jere Uronen |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | FW | BEL | Bryan Limbombe |
| 23 | DF | COL | Daniel Muñoz |
| 24 | MF | BEL | Luca Oyen |
| 26 | GK | BEL | Maarten Vandevoordt |
| 33 | DF | COL | Jhon Lucumí |
| 38 | MF | CIV | Eboue Kouassi |
| 40 | GK | BEL | Tobe Leysen |
| 42 | MF | NOR | Kristian Thorstvedt |
| 46 | DF | COL | Carlos Cuesta |
| 77 | DF | ECU | Angelo Preciado |
| 80 | MF | BEL | Pierre Dwomoh |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 6 | DF | BEL | Sébastien Dewaest (at Toulouse until 30 June 2021) |
| 14 | FW | SWE | Benjamin Nygren (at SC Heerenveen until 30 June 2022) |
| 15 | FW | NGA | Stephen Odey (at Amiens until 30 June 2021) |
| 20 | MF | NOR | Mats Møller Dæhli (at 1. FC Nürnberg until 30 June 2020) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 30 | GK | BEL | Nordin Jackers (at Waasland-Beveren until 30 June 2020) |
| — | DF | BRA | Neto Borges (at Vasco da Gama until 30 June 2021) |
| — | DF | BEL | Casper de Norre (at Leuven until 30 June 2021) |
| — | MF | GHA | Joseph Paintsil (at Ankaragücü until 30 June 2021) |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date | Source |
| 9 | FW | Cyriel Dessers | Heracles Almelo | Undisclosed | 1 July 2020 | |
| 5 | DF | Gerardo Arteaga | Santos Laguna | Undisclosed | 5 August 2020 | |

### Out

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date | Source |
| – | MF | Ismael Saibari | Jong PSV | Undisclosed | 1 July 2020 | |
| 31 | DF | Joakim Mæhle | Atalanta | €10M | 4 January 2021 | |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Belgian First Division A | 9 August 2020 | 23 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 2nd | 40 | 21 | 9 | 10 | 82 | 53 | +29 | 052.50 |
| Belgian Cup | 2 February 2021 | 25 April 2021 | Sixth round | Winners | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 100.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 45 | 26 | 9 | 10 | 96 | 56 | +40 | 057.78 |
Source: Soccerway

### Belgian First Division A
#### Regular season

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Antwerp | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 57 | 48 | +9 | 60 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 51 | 34 | +17 | 58 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 4 | Genk | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 67 | 48 | +19 | 56 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 5 | Oostende | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 49 | 41 | +8 | 53 | Qualification for the Play-offs II |
| 6 | Standard Liège | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 52 | 41 | +11 | 50 | Qualification for the Play-offs II |
* ↑ Genk qualifies for at least the play-off round of the Europa League through winning the 2021 Belgian Cup.
* ↑ On 14 April 2021 news was released that both Excel Mouscron and Oostende had not received a Belgian professional football license for the coming season, a requirement to play at the top two levels of Belgian football. For Oostende, a lack of financial transparency, together with generally poor quality and incompleteness of the submitted report, was given as the main reason by the committee for not awarding a license, while Excel Mouscron was refused a license as besides insufficient transparency, the committee also questioned several cash flows and whether the club was creditworthy in general, also due to the fact that the wages for the months of February and March had not yet been paid at that point. For Excel Mouscron, it was already the sixth year running the license was (initially) refused, however, the club has appealed the decision with the Belgian Court for Sports Arbitrage (BAS) successfully on each occasion and intended to do so again. Oostende was planning to launch an appeal as well, with the BAS to rule on the matter for both clubs before the 10th of May. Both clubs were allowed to add new documents to their case, but in case they however still did not receive a license after appeal, knew they would have been forced to relegate to the 2021–22 Belgian Division 2 and start the season with a 3-point penalty. Both Excel Mouscron and Oostende were however eventually awarded a license after appeal, meaning Oostende remained at the top level, while Excel Mouscron only dropped one level.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Jupiler Pro League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | D | L | L | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | D | L | L | D | L | W | D | L | L | L | W | W | D | W | W | L |
| Position | 3 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 8 July 2020.

#### Play-Off I

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | CLU | GNK | ANT | AND |
| 1 | Club Brugge (C) | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 44 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage | — | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| 2 | Genk | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 44 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round | 3–0 | — | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Antwerp | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 35 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round | 0–0 | 2–3 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Anderlecht | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 33 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round | 3–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Jupiler Pro League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | D | W | W | W |
| Position | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches
### Belgian Cup
## Statistics
### Squad appearances and goals

    Last updated on 23 May 2021.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Belgian Division | Belgian Division | Belgian Cup | Belgian Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | AUS | Danny Vukovic | 24 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | BEL | Maarten Vandevoordt | 20 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | BEL | Tobe Leysen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | USA | Mark McKenzie | 16 | 0 | 8+5 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | MEX | Gerardo Arteaga | 28 | 1 | 21+4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | FIN | Jere Uronen | 23 | 0 | 21+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | COL | Daniel Muñoz | 44 | 1 | 37+3 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 33 | DF | COL | Jhon Lucumí | 41 | 0 | 36+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 35 | DF | BEL | Shawn Adewoye | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | DF | COL | Carlos Cuesta | 38 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 77 | DF | ECU | Angelo Preciado | 10 | 0 | 7+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 4 | MF | BEL | Dries Wouters | 8 | 0 | 4+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | BEL | Bryan Heynen | 33 | 2 | 27+2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | SUI | Bastien Toma | 21 | 2 | 12+7 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | BEL | Elias Sierra | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | SVK | Patrik Hrošovský | 34 | 2 | 27+3 | 2 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | BEL | Luca Oyen | 21 | 0 | 4+16 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | CIV | Eboue Kouassi | 18 | 0 | 7+11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | MF | NOR | Kristian Thorstvedt | 34 | 9 | 22+8 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| 80 | MF | BEL | Pierre Dwomoh | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 7 | FW | JPN | Junya Ito | 42 | 12 | 37+1 | 11 | 4 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | NGA | Cyriel Dessers | 34 | 7 | 6+26 | 7 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | BEL | Theo Bongonda | 39 | 18 | 34+1 | 16 | 3+1 | 2 |
| 18 | FW | NGA | Paul Onuachu | 41 | 35 | 36+2 | 33 | 3 | 2 |
| 22 | FW | BEL | Bryan Limbombe | 4 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | BEL | Casper de Norre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | BRA | Neto Borges | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | BEL | Sébastien Dewaest | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | DEN | Joakim Mæhle | 16 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | NOR | Mats Møller Dæhli | 5 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | GHA | Joseph Paintsil | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | SWE | Benjamin Nygren | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | NGA | Stephen Odey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 23 May 2021
| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Pro League | Belgian Cup | Total |
| 1 | 18 | FW | | Paul Onuachu | 33 | 2 | 35 |
| 2 | 27 | FW | | Théo Bongonda | 16 | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | 7 | FW | | Junya Ito | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| 4 | 42 | MF | | Kristian Thorstvedt | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 5 | 9 | FW | | Cyriel Dessers | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | 8 | MF | | Bryan Heynen | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | 11 | MF | | Bastien Toma | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | 17 | MF | | Patrik Hrošovský | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | 5 | DF | | Gerardo Arteaga | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 23 | DF | | Daniel Muñoz | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 31 | DF | | Joakim Mæhle | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 82 | 9 | 91 |