# 2018–19 Belgian First Division A

The 2018–19 Belgian First Division A (officially known as Jupiler Pro League) was the 116th season of top-tier football in Belgium.

## Team changes

* Mechelen was relegated after finishing last in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division A, ending a streak of 11 seasons at the highest level.
* Cercle Brugge was promoted after winning the promotion play-offs against Beerschot Wilrijk. The club returns to the highest tier three seasons after relegation from the Belgian Pro League in 2014–15.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

| Matricule | Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| 35 | Anderlecht | Anderlecht | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium | 21,500 |
| 1 | Antwerp | Antwerp | Bosuilstadion | 12,975 |
| 12 | Cercle Brugge | Bruges | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,042 |
| 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 |
| 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 | Karim Belhocine | Adrien Trebel | Adidas | BNP Paribas Fortis |
| Antwerp | László Bölöni | Faris Haroun | Jako | Heylen Vastgoed |
| Cercle Brugge | José Jeunechamps | Benjamin Lambot | Erima | ADMB |
| Charleroi | Felice Mazzu | Francisco Martos | Kappa | Proximus |
| Club Brugge | Ivan Leko | Ruud Vormer | Macron | Daikin |
| Eupen | Claude Makélélé | Luis García | Nike | Aspire Academy |
| Excel Mouscron | Bernd Storck | Jérémy Huyghebaert | Erima | Star Casino |
| Genk | Philippe Clement | Alejandro Pozuelo | Nike | Beobank |
| Gent | Jess Thorup | Nana Asare | Craft | vdk bank |
| Kortrijk | Yves Vanderhaeghe | Hannes Van der Bruggen | Jako | AGO Jobs & HR |
| Lokeren | Glen De Boeck | Killian Overmeire | Beltona | QTeam |
| Oostende | Franky Van der Elst | Nicolas Lombaerts | Joma | Willems Veranda's |
| Sint-Truiden | Marc Brys | Jordan Botaka | Olympic | Golden Palace |
| Standard Liège | Michel Preud'homme | Sébastien Pocognoli | New Balance | BASE |
| Waasland-Beveren | Adnan Čustović | Milan Massop | Kappa | Circus.be |
| Zulte-Waregem | Francky Dury | Davy De fauw | Patrick | Willy Naessens Group |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Sint-Truiden | Jonas De Roeck | Replaced | End of 2017–18 season | Pre-season | Marc Brys | 21 May 2018 |
| Oostende | Adnan Čustović | Replaced | End of 2017–18 season | Pre-season | Gert Verheyen | 25 April 2018 |
| Cercle Brugge | Franky Vercauteren | Mutual consent | End of 2017–18 season | Pre-season | Laurent Guyot | 6 June 2018 |
| Standard Liège | Ricardo Sá Pinto | Resigned | End of 2017–18 season | Pre-season | Michel Preud'homme | 23 May 2018 |
| Waasland-Beveren | Dirk Geeraerd | Caretaker replaced | End of 2017–18 season | Pre-season | Yannick Ferrera | 8 June 2018 |
| Excel Mouscron | Frank Defays | Sacked | 30 August 2018 | 16th | Bernd Storck | 2 September 2018 |
| Gent | Yves Vanderhaeghe | Sacked | 8 October 2018 | 7th | Jess Thorup | 10 October 2018 |
| Lokeren | Peter Maes | Sacked | 27 October 2018 | 15th | Arnar Viðarsson (caretaker) | 27 October 2018 |
| Lokeren | Arnar Viðarsson (caretaker) | Caretaker replaced | 2 November 2018 | 16th | Trond Sollied | 2 November 2018 |
| Waasland-Beveren | Yannick Ferrera | Sacked | 11 November 2018 | 14th | Adnan Čustović | 17 November 2018 |
| Kortrijk | Glen De Boeck | Sacked | 15 November 2018 | 12th | Yves Vanderhaeghe | 15 November 2018 |
| Anderlecht | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | Sacked | 16 December 2018 | 4th | Karim Belhocine (caretaker) | 16 December 2018 |
| Anderlecht | Karim Belhocine (caretaker) | Caretaker replaced | 6 January 2019 | 5th | Fred Rutten | 6 January 2019 |
| Lokeren | Trond Sollied | Sacked | 20 January 2019 | 16th | Glen De Boeck | 20 January 2019 |
| Oostende | Gert Verheyen | Resigned | 6 March 2019 | 14th | Hugo Broos (caretaker) | 6 March 2019 |
| Anderlecht | Fred Rutten | Mutual consent | 16 April 2019 | Regular season: 4th Championship POs: 5th | Karim Belhocine (caretaker) | 16 April 2019 |
| Oostende | Hugo Broos (caretaker) | Resigned | 29 April 2019 | Regular season: 14th Europa League POs: 4th | Franky Van der Elst (caretaker) | 29 April 2019 |
| Cercle Brugge | Laurent Guyot | Mutual consent | 2 May 2019 | Regular season: 13th Europa League POs: 4th | José Jeunechamps (caretaker) | 2 May 2019 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Genk | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 63 | 31 | +32 | 63 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 2 | Club Brugge | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 64 | 32 | +32 | 56 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 3 | Standard Liège | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 53 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 4 | Anderlecht | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 49 | 34 | +15 | 51 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 5 | Gent | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 50 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 6 | Antwerp | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 49 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 7 | Sint-Truiden | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 47 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 8 | Kortrijk | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 43 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 9 | Charleroi | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 42 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 10 | Excel Mouscron | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 11 | Zulte Waregem | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 33 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 12 | Eupen | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 34 | 57 | −23 | 32 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 13 | Cercle Brugge | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 35 | 59 | −24 | 28 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 14 | Oostende | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 52 | −23 | 27 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 15 | Waasland-Beveren | 30 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 27 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 16 | Lokeren (R) | 30 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 28 | 53 | −25 | 20 | Relegation to First Division B |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AND | ANT | CER | CHA | CLU | EUP | EXM | GNK | GNT | KVK | LOK | OOS | STA | STR | W-B | ZWA |
| Anderlecht | — | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| Antwerp | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 5–1 |
| Cercle Brugge | 2–1 | 0–3 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–5 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Charleroi | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 |
| Club Brugge | 2–1 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | — | 5–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Eupen | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 0–4 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| Excel Mouscron | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 |
| Genk | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 |
| Gent | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–5 | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Kortrijk | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Lokeren | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–3 | — | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| Oostende | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Standard Liège | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | — | 3–2 | 4–3 | 4–1 |
| Sint-Truiden | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Waasland-Beveren | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–6 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 |
| Zulte Waregem | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–5 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — |

## 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: Genk 32 points, Club Brugge 28, Standard Liège 27, Anderlecht 26, Gent 25 and Antwerp 25. The points of Genk, Standard Liège, Anderlecht and Antwerp were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point will be deducted for these teams.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | GNK | CLU | STA | ANT | GNT | AND |
| 1 | Genk (C) | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 8 | +11 | 52 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage | — | 3–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Club Brugge | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 50 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round | 3–2 | — | 4–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Standard Liège | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 16 | +1 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage | 1–3 | 2–0 | — | 3–1 | 2–3 | 5–0 FF |
| 4 | Antwerp (O) | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 39 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off Final | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| 5 | Gent | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 35 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 |
| 6 | Anderlecht | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 19 | −11 | 32 | | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — |
* ↑ Match was abandoned near the end of the first half as Anderlecht supporters had been throwing flares and smoke bombs on the pitch. At that time Standard was leading 2–0. A few weeks later Anderlecht was fined 5.000 Euro and forced to play one match behind closed doors, with the match result set to a 5–0 win for Standard.
* ↑ After the season, 2018–19 Belgian Cup winners KV Mechelen were found guilty of match-fixing as part of the 2017–18 Belgian football fraud investigation, allowing Standard Liège to enter in the group stage instead of the third qualifying round, the fourth-placed team of the league, Royal Antwerp, entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round, and the second qualifying round berth was given to the fifth-placed team of the league, Gent. This decision is subject to appeal.

## Europa League play-offs

Group A of the play-offs consist 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 2018–19 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 were joined by the second placed qualifier from the 2018–19 Belgian First Division B in group B.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CHA | STR | WES | OOS | EUP | B‑W |
| 1 | Charleroi | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 7 | +13 | 22 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off semi-final | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Sint-Truiden | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 17 | | 3–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| 3 | Westerlo | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 12 | | 0–2 | 2–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| 4 | Oostende | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 12 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | — | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| 5 | Eupen | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 11 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | Beerschot Wilrijk | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 8 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KVK | USG | W‑B | ZWA | EXM | CER |
| 1 | Kortrijk | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 12 | +14 | 24 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off semi-final | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Union SG | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 20 | | 2–0 | — | 5–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Waasland-Beveren | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 24 | −7 | 13 | | 2–3 | 3–2 | — | 0–5 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| 4 | Zulte Waregem | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 13 | | 0–5 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 6–2 |
| 5 | Excel Mouscron | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 22 | −3 | 8 | | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 3–0 | — | 2–3 |
| 6 | Cercle Brugge | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 30 | −14 | 7 | | 1–2 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 0–3 | — |

### Semi-final

The winners of both play-off groups competed in one match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. This match was played on the field of the highest ranked team in the regular competition. Charleroi advanced to the final to play for a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.

### Final

The winner of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs played one match to determine the Europa League play-off winner. Antwerp qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.

## Number of teams by provinces

| Number of teams | Province or region | Team(s) |
| 5 | West Flanders | Cercle Brugge, Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem |
| 3 | East Flanders | Gent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren |
| 2 | Hainaut | Charleroi and Excel Mouscron |
| 2 | Liège | Eupen and Standard Liège |
| 2 | Limburg | Genk and Sint-Truiden |
| 1 | Antwerp | Antwerp |
| 1 | Brussels | Anderlecht |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of matches played on 17 May 2019.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Hamdi Harbaoui | Zulte Waregem | 25 |
| 2 | Mbwana Samatta | Genk | 23 |
| 3 | Ivan Santini | Anderlecht | 16 |
| 3 | Victor Osimhen | Charleroi | 16 |
| 5 | Daichi Kamada | Sint-Truiden | 15 |
| 5 | Felipe Avenatti | Kortrijk | 15 |
| 7 | Leandro Trossard | Genk | 14 |
| 7 | Theo Bongonda | Zulte Waregem | 14 |
| 7 | Hans Vanaken | Club Brugge | 14 |
| 10 | Ruslan Malinovskyi | Genk | 13 |

### Clean sheets

    As of matches played on 17 May 2019.
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Danny Vukovic | Genk | 14 |
| 2 | Sinan Bolat | Antwerp | 13 |
| 3 | Ethan Horvath | Club Brugge | 11 |
| 4 | Jean Butez | Excel Mouscron | 9 |
| 4 | Thomas Didillon | Anderlecht | 9 |
| 4 | Guillermo Ochoa | Standard Liège | 9 |
| 7 | Thomas Kaminski | Kortrijk / Gent | 8 |
| 8 | Nicolas Penneteau | Charleroi | 7 |
| 9 | Hendrik Van Crombrugge | Eupen | 6 |
| 10 | Ortwin De Wolf | Lokeren | 5 |