Belgian Pro League Season Review: OH Leuven

Finish Position: 12th

Overview:

OH Leuven continued their recent trend of finishing within the mid-table places, as their season petered out towards the end. Despite drawing five of their first six play-off matches, Chris Coleman’s side still had an outside chance of finishing top of the Conference League Group. However four defeats in their last four matches condemned OH to last place in the group. Chris Coleman took over at the end of November, yet reports are stating that the club want to bring in David Hubert to take charge, as they don’t feel Coleman is the right man to lead the team further.

In the Belgian Cup, they made it to the quarter-final stage, before being knocked out by Club Brugge.

Player of the Season: Tobe Leysen

Leuven struggled to find a consistent goalscorer this campaign but defensively they remained strong in many games. One of the key reasons for this was through the performances of goalkeeper Leysen. According to FotMob, he claimed nine man-of-the-match performances and kept 11 clean sheets throughout the course of the campaign. His most impressive statistic is the fact that he has prevented 9.42 goals. The 23-year-old has enjoyed the best season of his career so far, and Leuven will be glad to know that this summer they won’t need a different number one.

Young Player of the Season: Ezechiel Banzuzi

The Dutch midfielder has imposed himself as a real presence in the Pro League and, as a result, has earned a move to RB Leipzig in a €16m move. This is record sale for Leuven, and it’s no shock as to why. Banzuzi finished the campaign with two goals and five assists and won over half of his duels and aerial duels. As Banzuzi moves to Germany, Leuven will need to find someone who can fill that role in midfield.

Summer Needs:

As previously mentioned, Leuven have €16m to play around with following the sale of Banzuz, with a replacement being the utmost priority. They are currently linked with defender Seid Korac, a 23-year-old Luxembourg international. He plays for Serbian outfit Vojvodina, and would cost €1.5m. A big issue for OH this season was the lack of a consistent goalscorer, with only Siebe Schrijvers and Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi scoring more than four league goals. If Leuven want to push towards European qualification, a prolific talisman is a piece of the puzzle that they need.