Manchester City vs Club Brugge KV prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2025-01-28 20:00.
[p]At the start of this UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign, few would have expected it to come to this for Manchester City, who need to beat Club Brugge to have any chance of progressing to the competition’s play-off phase. The signs were good this past weekend when they bounced back from their 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain to beat Chelsea at the Etihad 3-1, extending their competitive record to just one loss in eight (W5, D2). [/p]
[p]Despite getting back to winning ways, the manner of the loss in Paris will have left a bitter taste in the mouth of Pep Guardiola and his men who blew a two-goal lead for a second successive UCL game, (also 3-3 vs Feyenoord) – the only side to do so in three games in a single European Cup campaign were Reims 1955/56. Yet, a record of no defeat in 33 UCL home games (W28, D5) suggests that this game being played in Manchester could prove to be decisive. [/p]
[p]Club Brugge know they will be eliminated in place of their hosts if they lose, but they shouldn’t travel in fear based on a strong record of no defeat in 20 competitive matches (W15, D5). Four of those matches came in this competition, and a fifth game without losing here would be their longest undefeated run in one campaign of Europe’s top tier since a streak of five back in 1976/77. [/p]
[p]Despite their standout recent form, Club Brugge still have a sizable psychological block to overcome in the form of their rotten record against English opposition. The Belgian outfit have never won away to English opposition in European competition, with 12 of their 14 attempts including qualifiers ending in defeats. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: City’s Phil Foden has been in red-hot form, with the defeat to PSG the only game the Manchester City man hasn’t scored in across his last four matches (G5). Maxim De Cuyper and Christos Tzolis have both created 14 UCL chances each this season; the joint-most for Club Brugge in a single campaign on record (since 2004).[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Manchester City won seven of their eight European games against Belgian opposition (L1). [/p]
[p][i]Written by David H[/i][/p]