Club Brugge KV vs Aston Villa prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2025-03-03 17:45.
[p]Despite only sneaking into the UEFA Champions League (UCL) knockout play-offs as the lowest-ranked qualifying side, Club Brugge upset the odds in a thumping 5-2 aggregate win over Atalanta to book their place in the last 16. Standing between them and a first quarter-final appearance in this competition since 1977/78 – when they went on to reach the final – are Aston Villa, a side they beat 1-0 in the league phase in November.[/p]
[p]That was a rare success against English opposition, with that Brugge’s only win in their last 16 such matches in European competition (D3, L12), conceding a whopping 42 times in that run. A considerable challenge awaits then, but nowhere can Nicky Hayen’s men be more confident than at Jan Breydelstadion where they have lost just once in 17 outings across all competitions (W13, D3), winning three of their last four UCL games there by one-goal margins (D1).[/p]
[p]Aston Villa boss Unai Emery – who is leading a fourth different side into the knockout stages of this competition – will be keen to remind his players that they only lost the previous H2H thanks to a bizarre penalty as they chase a place in the quarter-finals. Villa historically struggle against Belgian opposition though, winning just one of their last five H2Hs against teams from the country (D1, L3), with that coming in the semi-finals of this competition in 1981/82![/p]
[p]The Villans went on to lift the trophy that year for the only time, but more seasoned fans will be aware that their chances of repeating that are slim if form on the road does not improve. Villa have won just two of their last 12 away matches in all competitions (D1, L9), failing to score in six of those losses.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Chemsdine Talbi directly contributed to three of his side’s five goals against Atalanta (G2, A1) – he is now looking to become the first Belgian teenager to score three goals in a single edition of the UCL. Villa’s loan signings are already having an impact, with Marco Asensio scoring four times in his last three matches, with all but one of those strikes assisted by Marcus Rashford.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Aston Villa have kept just one away clean sheet since their first UCL game of the season against Young Boys (W4, D2, L9).[/p]
[p][i]Written by Ryan Fisher[/i][/p]