Celtic vs Club Brugge KV prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-11-26 20:00.
[p]Halfway through the inaugural league phase of the revamped UEFA Champions League (UCL), Celtic and Club Brugge sit inside the top-24 and in the qualification places. Celtic will carry some strong form into this inaugural H2H and are producing their best UCL football in more than a decade, with their two wins in this league phase (D1, L1) matching the two they accumulated across their previous four UCL group stages (D6, L16)![/p]
[p]Celtic’s two UCL victories both come on home soil as pre-match favourites, and the odds are again in their favour here courtesy of their almost perfect record at home this calendar year (W18, D2). The most recent was the manager’s favourite, a come-from-behind 3-1 UCL win against Leipzig at Celtic Park which was hailed by Brendan Rodgers as their best continental performance of his tenure, underscored by their “charisma and courage”. [/p]
[p]Nicky Hayen’s stratospheric rise as a football manager continued last round when he led underdogs Club Brugge to a 1-0 win over Aston Villa, just two years after he was leading Welsh semi-professional club Haverfordwest out of relegation trouble. That was their fourth consecutive win across all competitions, and they appear to have overcome a slight stumble domestically since then. [/p]
[p]Hayen blasted his players for displaying “an attitude problem” on their most recent away trip – a 2-2 draw with last-placed Beerschot in the Belgian Pro League – but they responded immediately with a 7-0 demolition of St Truiden. They should therefore be continuing to guard against complacency, particularly after they were also humbled by AC Milan (L 3-1) in their last away game in the UCL. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn is on a run of four consecutive scoring appearances, recording a Flashscore match rating of 9.4/10 for his double in their win over Leipzig. Club Brugge forward Christos Tzolis is also in fine form, piling on four goals at the weekend to go with his one in Greece’s UEFA Nations League win over Finland immediately prior. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only Inter Milan (64%) have a higher UCL clean sheet rate than Club Brugge (58%) of all teams to have featured in more than one season since 2022/23. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]