Cercle Brugge KSV vs Hearts prediction: EUROPE: Conference League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-11-27 17:45.
[p]After successfully navigating qualifying in Europe for the first time in their history, Cercle Brugge’s league phase campaign in the UEFA Conference League began with a bang as they thrashed St. Gallen 6-2. They have faltered since then though, losing 3-1 to VĂkingur ReykjavĂk and drawing 0-0 with LASK in their subsequent two games in the competition. [/p]
[p]Cercle did gain some credit for that latter result after surviving the entire second half while playing with ten men, but that was also the first match of three in all competitions in which they’ve failed to score, leaving them in danger of going four games without finding the net for the first time since July 2014! Ahead of the visit of Hearts however, Miron Muslic’s men don’t have to cast their minds back too far to recall their last victory over Scottish opposition, having beaten Kilmarnock 2-1 on aggregate in UEFA Europa League qualifying in August. [/p]
[p]Hearts find themselves in the top third of the 36-team Conference League table after matchday three having won two of their three games, albeit their latest such result was a 2-0 home defeat to Heidenheim. That encounter was the first of three that the Edinburgh club have lost in all competitions coming into this fixture, although it’s worth noting that those other two defeats were against Rangers and Celtic. [/p]
[p]As it happens, Hearts’ first-ever European opponents were Belgian in the form of Standard Liège, who beat them 6-3 on aggregate in 1958/59. Since then, the Jam Tarts have played four matches against teams from the country (W2, L2), albeit the last of those games was in the 1992/93 season. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Hannes Van der Bruggen got Cercle’s last goal on 3rd November, and the midfielder is certainly a lucky charm for whichever club he has played for, having been on the winning side all 14 times when finding the net. Kenneth Vargas assisted Hearts’ consolation against Celtic at the weekend and also has an unbelievable record when getting on the scoresheet, having tasted defeat just once in such games (W20, D8). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only two of Cercle’s last nine matches have seen both teams score. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Alex Bowmer[/i][/p]