Genk’s chances of recording an opening Europa League league phase victory over Rangers at Ibrox tonight have been damaged by the loss of a Nigerian winger who is “faster than Kylian Mbappe”, it has been revealed.
And it has also been suggested that visiting manager Thorsten Fink may rest key players this evening and prioritise a derby match against Sint-Truiden on Sunday which he desperately need his side to win to ease the pressure on him after a dire start to the Belgian Pro League.
Home supporters will, despite the 2-0 win which their team recorded over Hibernian in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final in Govan on Saturday night, head for this evening’s match in hope not expectation after a bruising start to the 2025/26 campaign.
They can still remember the 9-1 aggregate mauling which Russell Martin’s men suffered at the hands of Club Brugge in the Champions League play-off earlier this month and many will be content if the hosts avoid another humiliation like that.
A few may even secretly hope to see Rangers suffer another heavy reverse in front of their co-owner Andrew Cavenagh because they feel it will facilitate the departure of Martin.
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But Marnik Geukens, a sports reporter for the Belgian national newspaper Het Belang van Limburg, is unsure which Genk will turn up for the match. Will it be the side which has struggled domestically so far this term? Or the team which blew away Lech Poznan in the play-off last month. He does not know.
But Geukens thinks that Fisk will miss Nigerian flyer Yira Sor and suspects the former Basel, Hamburg, Austria Vienna and Grasshoppers Zurich manager may have half an eye on the Limburg derby game this weekend.
“Sor is still not available and he is one of Genk’s most dangerous guys in Europe,” he said. “He is a winger and he’s very quick. When he is fully fit, he is as quick as Mbappe.
“The problem is, though, that he is never fit. He has a lot of muscle issues. It is difficult for a guy with that speed. He hasn’t travelled to Scotland.
“Normally, wingers are important to genk in Europe. On the left they usually ply with a guy who sits deep on the left and on the right they play with Jarne Steukers, who is a really good right-sided playmaker. He is a master of the assist.
“But their most exciting player is their Moroccan right back, Zakaria El Ouahadi. He is their top scorer because he plays like a striker despite his position. He is always all over the pitch. He has been sensational.
“Their best player is their captain Bryan Heynan. He is a defensive midfielder and is not the most exciting footballer, but he is the heart and the lungs of the team
“Genk play a very adventurous game. When they played Lech Poznan of Poland in the Europa League play-off they were like a hurricane. They won 5-1 away and went through. Their opponents didn’t know what happened. When they are good, they can be really good.”
Geukens added, “But I think they will give winger Junya Ito a rest and play Noah Adedeji-Sternberg a game because on Sunday they will play St Truiden and that is the only derby they have. They are also a Limburg team. It is like the Old Firm match, but with smaller numbers.
“St Truiden are second just now and Genk are third from bottom. It is usually the other way around. Now they have to go to Stayen and win. If they don’t Fink is really in trouble with the fans. So I think he may choose to rest some players for Rangers.”
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However, the German has been boosted by the timely return of Konstantinos Karetsas, the Greek wonderkid who has been widely tipped to become European football’s next superstar.
“Karetsas is rated extremely highly, not just at Genk but across Belgium,” said Stan Strubbe of VoetbalPrimeur.be. “It was a blow when he chose to represent Greece at international level instead of Belgium.
“He’s still only 17, but he’s already making a huge impression, which is remarkable. His numbers are still lacking a bit. Across 34 matches last season he score three goals and recorded two assists, quite modest for someone with his talent.
“But among Genk fans and teammates, he’s already a beloved figure. Whenever he’s on the pitch, you can expect flashes of real class.”
Geukens said, “He is still just 17 and he hasn’t passed his driving test and got his licence yet. It’s just as well he lives less than two kilometres away from the stadium with his parents. He is a nice kid and a really good player. He lacks experience, but he has some really good things.
“He is typical Genk. The club is renowned for their youth school. It is the club of Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Leandro Trossard, Christian Benteke, Timothy Castagne, Wilfred Ndidi all came through there.
"They have a brilliant youth school and they have to because it is owned by the fans. They are trying to bring in some private money to help them to compete, but in a way which allows them to own 51 per cent of the club.”
Strubbe believes the player who Scotland will need to be wary of when they play Greece in their crucial World Cup qualifier at Hampden next month will bank Genk a bumper transfer fee at the end of this season.
“Whether he leaves next summer will depend on his season with Genk now,” he said. “But if he establishes himself as a regular starter and adds strong stats, top clubs will fight for him.”
