Champions League: Brugge Test for Ambitious Villa

Club Brugge vs Aston Villa

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa head to Belgium on Tuesday as their European adventure continues away to Nicky Hayen’s Club Brugge.

The Premier League club impressed in the league phase, qualifying automatically while the Belgians have been a surprise package in the competition, dumping out Atalanta with a resounding 5-2 win in the play-offs, and Champions League: Brugge vs Aston Villa is a game both camps will believe they can win.

They are meeting for the second time in this competition and Brugge have the psychological edge, winning that first encounter, while Villa have the added incentive of a revenge mission. Either Liverpool or Paris Saint-Germain will face the winners in the quarter finals, a mouth-watering prospect for both sets of fans.      

Villa come into the game on the back of a 2-0 FA Cup win over Cardiff City, while Brugge drew 1-1 away to Gent in the Belgian Pro League and both will be keen to get off to a good start on Tuesday.   

Talking Points

Brugge so strong at home

A defeat at home to Standard Liege a month ago was a first home loss for Brugge in 17 games, and they failed to score in just one of their last 35 games on home soil. Hayen’s men won their first play-off leg at home to Atalanta thanks to a late and controversial penalty, but they won the second leg emphatically as teenage sensation Chemsdine Talbi scored a brace in the 3-1 win.

The Belgians had made the top 24 on goal difference and Brugge had some difficult matches to navigate, with losses to Manchester City, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund. But they did enough, including the victory over Aston Villa, finishing with 11 points, thanks to three wins and two draws.

Having won their fourth Belgian league title in five years last term, Brugges are trailing Genk by nine points this season, picking just two points up in their last three league games. But they will tackle Villa with confidence and Talbi is set to start up front alongside Feran Jutgla, who has two goals and two assists in the competition and this pair will give the Villans’ defence plenty to thin about. 

Villa’s January recruits are flying  

After finishing in the top eight the Round of 16 draw was relatively kind to Emery’s team and they are favourites to navigate this tie. And there’s a good chance that two of the club’s January signings can make some big Brugge vs Aston Villa highlights over the next two weeks. Attacking midfielder Marco Asensio and forward Marcus Rashford have both been added to the Villans’ Champions League squad, alongside defender Axel Disasi. Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia have missed out as UEFA rules mean clubs can only add three players midway through the competition. Asensio scored both Villa’s goals in their FA Cup win over Cardiff to make it four in his last three games and the PSG loan man is sure to make a start, while Rashford is likely to start on the bench, having impressed as an impact sub since his arrival.      

But while Brugge have been so strong at home the Villans have struggled on the road recently, losing 4-1 to Crystal Palace in the Premier League and AS Monaco in the Champions League, in fact they have lost nine of their last 12 away games in all competitions.    

History

Both Club Brugge and Aston Villa are relatively new to Champions League knockout phases in recent years, but they were both finalists in Europe’s premier competition four decades ago. The Belgians lost the European Cup final to Liverpool in 1978 while the Villans won the tournament four years later, beating Bayern Munich 1-0 thanks to a goal from Peter Withe. It was the sixth consecutive year that an English club was crowned champions and we may well see a Premier League club pick up the title this season.        

They have only met once before, and when Brugge hosted Villa in Round Four of the league stage they won 1-0 as Hans Vanaken converted a penalty; and the Brugge vs Aston Villa betting odds say we’re in for another tight game on Tuesday. That win was a rare one for Brugge against English clubs; they previously had a winless streak of 14, including 11 defeats. But now Hayern’s team has tasted victory and they will want more.

With three wins, two draws and one defeat the two teams have identical records over the past six games

Betting Tip

Hosts Brugge are at SBOTOP odds of 2.70 to win this first leg with Villa at 2.41. The Belgians are as strong at home as the Villans are weak away, but I do think Emery’s European experience will help the visitors out.

So a draw is my choice, and for a Correct Score line you can get 1-1 at odds of 5.90, 2-2 at 14.50 and 0-0 at 9.80.

 

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