Aston Villa vs Club Brugge prediction, expected line-ups, how to watch and stats
Unai Emery will be crossing his fingers and hoping for a ‘good ebening’ at Villa Park where he will (hopefully) guide the Villans to their first Champions League quarter-final since 1982.
Villa haven’t lifted a trophy since bagging the Trofeo Naranja two summers ago, one of those unethical bits of tin clubs sometimes create to stuff their trophy cabinets.
If you missed the first leg, then it’s worth noting Villa survived some hairy moments before Brugge’s man in the mask needlessly twatted the ball into his own net.
Not content with having shot themselves in the foot, the Belgians stuck their thumb in the hole when Christos Tzolis’ offensively poor touch led to him fouling Matty Cash inside the box.
It may look as if the Villans have booked their spot in the next round of the Champions League, but only a fool would write Club Brugge off at this stage.
They’ll need to invoke the spirit that saw them crush Serie A high-flyers Atalanta against all odds, while hoping for a decent slice of luck on the night.
They’ll also need to become the 14th team in Champions League history to overturn a two-goal deficit in the second leg.
Aston Villa team news
Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana are ruled out due to injury, while Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia are ineligible.
Robin Olsen stood strong against a tidal wave of Brentford pressure at the weekend, preventing 0.70xG to secure a 1-0 win for Villa.
Emi Martinez was a late scratch ahead of that game but the best goalkeeper in the world may return on Wednesday.
Axel Disasi’s impressive performances at right-back mean he should continue there, despite Matty Cash’s return to fitness.
Marco Asensio is doubtful and may not be risked, so Marcus Rashford, Morgan Rogers, and Leon Bailey should form the three supporting Ollie Watkins.
Aston Villa expected line-up
Martinez – Digne, Mings, Konsa, Disasi – Tielemans, McGinns – Rashford, Rogers, Bailey – Watkins
Club Brugge team news
Brugge have no new injury concerns for their trip to England so they should be able to field the same side that tested Villa a week ago.
Joaquin Seys and Bjorn Meijer remain out with hamstring complaints.
Goalscorer Maxim De Cuyper will feature again, with Raphael Onyedinka and Ardon Jashari at the base of the midfield.
Chemsdine Talbi, Hans Vanaken, and Christos Tzolis, who assisted Brugge’s goal, showed their attacking threat during the first leg.
Former Barcelona prospect Ferran Jutgla will hope to add to his nine goals across all competitions as he starts up front.
Club Brugge expected line-up
Mignolet – Sabbe, Ordonez, Mechele, De Cuyper – Onyedika, Jashari – Talbi, Vanaken, Tzolis – Jutgla
Aston Villa vs Club Brugge: How to watch and listen
Villa’s Champions League clash with Brugge is live on TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+. There will be live commentary aired on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
Aston Villa vs Club Brugge stats:
This is their third meeting this season. Brugge won 1-0 when the sides met in the group phase, while Villa won the first leg of this knockout tie 3-1 last week.
Villa have conceded in their previous 10 home matches against Premier League and European opposition.
On the other hand, they’re unbeaten in Champions League play at Villa Park and shut out Bayern Munich, Bologna, and Juventus.
The Belgians have scored in 19 of their previous 25 Champions League away fixtures and each of their last six.
There are 13 examples of a team overturning a two-goal deficit in Champions League history, most recently Juventus beating Atletico Madrid 3-0 in the second leg.
Unai Emery (Aston Villa) quotes
On preparing for the second leg:
“Nothing changes. We are respecting them a lot. We have our own experiences, myself and the players as well, in our careers.
“Tomorrow anything could happen. It’s a football match and a lot of things can happen in 90 minutes. The match can change so quickly.
“We won there but we won in the last minutes with two actions that we had. That’s football, but the respect is massive. The respect of them is massive.
“The result for us is to follow the same gameplan we had there. We’re going to play another 90 minutes tomorrow in the second leg.
“We’re ready to compete for 90 minutes. We’re ready in case of extra-time and we’re ready in case we will need a penalty shoot-out.”
On creating Aston Villa history:
“We have our challenges, our vision of how we want to increase our level and achieve different objectives. We are now evolving in it.
“To play in the Champions League has been fantastic, but my objective is to be consistent playing in Europe and the Champions League.
“Everything we are achieving is because we are in a new way. It’s a new demand, starting from the owners, starting from the club, starting with everything we are trying to set inside.
“I think the supporters are in the same way. To keep it is difficult. This is the challenge I have. You can remember my objective when I arrived here firstly was to be contenders for trophies, to play in Europe – maybe the first objective I had was to be in Europe.
“We got it last year and this year. To be contenders for a trophy, last year we were contenders in the Conference League but we lost in the semi-final. This year, we’re in the FA Cup and Champions League as well.
“Everything we are doing, hopefully we can keep it for a long time. This is the challenge. I know after the club won the European Cup they were for a long time not achieving the demands we are now setting in the club: to be in Europe, to be a contender for trophies.
“Everything we are doing is important, but I want more.”
Nicky Hayen (Club Brugge) quotes
On their chances of progression:
“If we did not believe in it, we would not be here. You always have to believe.
“Tomorrow we will need a similar performance to Atalanta. But what we have done has given us confidence.
“The only thing we know is we really believe in our own chances. Even if it is a small percentage, we still believe. The players believe in it. That has been the case in the dressing room the last couple of days.
“We still believe we can do it. We can turn it around in as tough a way as possible. We will consider everything. But it is quite easy, we have to score. We played with courage at home last week, we went for it. We went on the attack.
On being more clinical:
“We had chances we didn’t use. If you take your chances, we can go ahead. We know it is going to be more difficult, but that is obvious.
“We have to win. There is no pressure. No-one is giving us a chance. It is like a bonus match but we are going to go and try to win.”
Aston Villa vs Club Brugge referee stats:
Despite having a reputation for cards, Joao Pinheiro kept his notebook in his pocket during the first leg, awarding just 18 fouls in a disciplined affair.
German referee Daniel Siebert will take charge at Villa Park on Wednesday and he hands out more cards in the Champions League than any other competition.
Averaging 4.59 yellows, 0.24 reds and 0.41 penalties per contest, and a foul roughly every three minutes, one would have to assume the sound of his whistle excites him as much as putting pen to paper.
He took charge of Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb earlier in the competition, as well as Man City’s 4-1 win against Sporting Lisbon, and England’s 3-0 stroll against Greece in the summer.
VAR Benjamin Brand was the man who confirmed Tyrone Mings’ bizarre handball when the sides first met in November.
Aston Villa vs Club Brugge prediction:
Chocolate on waffles is genius, and Jupiler is a perfectly good tipple. The Belgians have masterminded triumphs before but this would be a real turn-up for the books.
Still, it doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy themselves and contribute to a cracking game on Wednesday. Villa have conceded in their last 10 against Premier League and European visitors, so we fancy Nicky Hayen’s side to score at least once.
Keeping the likes of Ollie Watkins out will be the bigger problem, because Villa are a potent side and the visitors tend to concede. Both teams to score looks nailed on.
It’s hard to imagine Emery or the Villa Park faithful settling for a too cautious performance, and the visitors have to go all out, so we can do better than two goals. Over 3.5 is worthy of your consideration.
Read our full prediction below.
