Brugge vs Aston Villa Prediction, Preview, Predicted Lineups and Team News | UEFA Champions League

Brugge vs Aston Villa Preview

• Competition: UEFA Champions League.
• Date: Tuesday, March 4.
• Time: 5:45 PM GMT.
• Venue: Jan Breydel Stadium.

Brugge vs Aston Villa will take place at the Jan Breydel Stadium in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 matches on March 4.

The hosts will enter this contest on the back of a decent run of form. They have lost just once in their last five matches across competitions, winning two and drawing two of the other matches. In this run, Brugge have scored nine times and conceded seven times, failing to keep a single clean sheet. They drew 1-1 with Gent last time out and will look to perform better.

Villa, on the other hand, have the exact same record in their last five matches. They too have won two, drawn two and lost one in that run. They have scored eight goals in that time and conceded eight as well, keeping one clean sheet. They defeated Cardiff 2-0 in their last game and will look to extend the winning run.

On that note, here is the team news from both camps ahead of the match.

Brugge Team News

Manager Nicky Hayen will be mighty pleased with his team's injury and suspension record of late. He fielded a strong lineup in the last match and Joaquin Seys picked up a knock but should be back for their next match. Apart from that, they did not pick up any new injuries or suspensions.

Raphael Onyedika (unknown) has been out for a while and is likely to miss the next one too.

Aston Villa Team News

Manager Unai Emery fielded a strong lineup as Aston Villa made light work of Cardiff in a 2-0 win last time out. Most players performed well as the manager rotated his squad just enough to maintain the rotation as well as the workload. There were no new injuries or suspensions to report either.

However, they will be without seven players. Amadou Onana (hamstring), Boubacar Kamara (muscle), Emiliano Martinez (physical discomfort), Matty Cash (knock), Pau Torres (foot), Ross Barkley (calf) and Tyrone Mings (knee) will all miss out as they continue to recover.

Brugge vs Aston Villa Predicted Lineups

Brugge Predicted Lineup

Goalkeeper: Simon Mignolet.

Defenders: Joaquin Seys, Joel Ordonez, Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper.

Midfielders: Hugo Siquet, Hans Vanaken (C), Ardon Jashari, Chemsdine Talbi.

Forwards: Gustaf Nilsson, Ferran Jutgla.

Aston Villa Predicted Lineup

Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martinez.

Defenders: Andres Garcia, Ezri Konsa, Lamare Bogarde, Ian Maatsen.

Midfielders: John McGinn (C), Youri Tielemans, Marco Asensio.

Forwards: Leon Bailey, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins.

Brugge vs Aston Villa Head-to-Head Record

As mentioned above, these two teams have met earlier in this Champions League campaign, where Brugge overcame Aston Villa with a 1-0 scoreline.

Key Players to Watch in Brugge vs Aston Villa

Hans Vanaken (Brugge)

The Brugge skipper has been in good form for his club this season and has racked up 22 goal contributions in 43 appearances so far. Eight goals and nine assists have come in the Belgian league, while just one goal and one assist have come from 10 Champions League appearances. Being the captain will bring added pressure to deliver results and Vanaken will look to perform well.

Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

Watkins has been in good form for Aston Villa so far this season and leads the charts for being their top scorer in the Champions League. He has produced 13 goals and 11 assists in 38 appearances so far, with one goal and three assists coming in the CL. He will look to keep performing the same.

Brugge vs Aston Villa Prediction

Going by recent form as well as the only previous meeting, it seems that Brugge will have a slight psychological edge over Aston Villa as they have already defeated them this season. As a result, the first leg could end in a close draw.

Predicted Score: Brugge 1-1 Aston Villa.

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