Genk hoping corner has been turned ahead of Europa League qualifying clash with Lech Poznan | OneFootball

Genk travel to Poland on Thursday evening to face Lech Poznan in Europa League qualification. The Belgian side will be hoping for a return to the second tier of European continental competition after missing out entirely on European football last season. Fresh off their first win of the season last week against OH Leuven, Thorsten Fink and co will be hoping to take advantage of a Lech Poznan side who are somewhat out of form.

Led by Danish head coach Niels Frederiksen, Lech Poznan won the Ekstraklasa for the ninth time last season, their first title since 2021/2022. Their current season has not got off to the greatest of starts however. The side lost the Superuchar against Legia Warszawa before a 4-1 opening day defeat to former Kortrijk and Standard Liege head coach Luka Elsner’s Cracovia side. Frederiksen’s men did comfortable beat Icelandic side Breidablik in Champions League qualification with a 7-1 win at home in the first leg. They were knocked out of that competition by FK Crvena Zvezda before a 1-1 draw with Korona Kielce at the weekend. The sides star striker Mikael Ishak is already in good form with three goals to start the season.

Genk themselves only just picked up their first three points of the season with a 2-1 win over OH Leuven last Friday. Genk lost their opening day game to Club Brugge before a 1-1 draw with Antwerp and another defeat to Standard Liege. The win over OH Leuven should give them some confidence, and the league has also agreed to postpone their clash with Charleroi so that they can get rest ahead of the return leg next week. Genk have a good record against Poznan, having knocked them out during Europa League qualification in 2018. For Genk, defender Zakaria El Ouahdi is in good form to start the campaign with three goals. He may leave before the end of the summer transfer window after a strong 2024/2025 campaign.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson