Aston Villa will be eager to continue the perfect start to the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign when they face Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Wednesday.
Matchday 4 of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League will culminate on Wednesday. The action on the day will kick-start with two early fixtures, including Club Brugge vs Aston Villa at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Club Brugge would have hoped for favourable fixtures to kick off the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign. The Belgian champions have already faced Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan, losing to the two European bigwigs. However, they beat Sturm Graz to get on the board, with that result taking them to 26th in the standings.
On the other hand, Aston Villa could not have asked for a better start to life in the UEFA Champions League. The Villans are one of only two teams to win all three games thus far, with Unai Emery’s men yet to concede a goal while clinching a shock win over Bayern Munich on Matchday 2.
However, the visitors come into Wednesday’s game on the back of successive defeats in domestic competitions, first bowing out of the EFL Cup against Crystal Palace before losing 4-1 to Tottenham Hotspur. As for Club Brugge, the hosts are on a six-game unbeaten run in domestic football and beat OH Leuven 1-0 in the Pro League this past weekend.
Wednesday’s clash will be the first-ever match featuring Club Brugge and Aston Villa. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the maiden meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Club Brugge
Nicky Hayen does not have many roster issues hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Club Brugge manager will be bereft of the services of only two first-team players vs Aston Villa.
Gustaf Nilsson is the only absentee, with the Swedish forward recovering from an achilles injury that will keep him on the sidelines until January. In addition, Raphael Onyedika is unavailable after seeing red against AC Milan, and he will serve a one-game suspension.
Simon Mignolet will take his spot between the sticks, with Club Brugge lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Aston Villa. The backline should feature Joaquin Seys, Joel Ordonez, Brandon Mechele, and Maxim De Cuyper.
As for the midfield unit, Onyedika’s absence means Hugo Vetlesen should pair up with Ardon Jashari in the double pivot. Hans Vanaken will reprise the no. 10 role, looking to pull the strings from the central areas. Finally, Romeo Vermant will likely lead the line for Club Brugge against Aston Villa, with Christos Tzolis and Andreas Skov Olsen being the two wide attackers.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Mignolet; Seys, Ordonez, Mechele, De Cuyper; Jashari, Vetlesen; Skov Olsen, Vanaken, Tzolis; Vermant
Aston Villa
Like his counterpart in the Club Brugge dugout, Unai Emery does not have many pressing concerns to worry about ahead of the trip to the Jan Breydel Stadium. The Aston Villa manager will be without only two first-team players on Wednesday.
Ross Barkley is recovering from a muscle injury, while Matty Cash is dealing with a calf problem. The duo will not return until after the international break. Meanwhile, Emery has been sweating over the fitness of Morgan Rogers. However, the in-form playmaker should be fit enough to take on Club Brugge.
Emiliano Martinez is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Aston Villa lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Club Brugge on Wednesday. The backline should feature Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, and Ian Maatsen.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans in the double pivot. Morgan Rogers should reprise the no. 10 role, with John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey playing around him in the advanced areas. Finally, Ollie Watkins will lead the line for Aston Villa against Club Brugge, with Jhon Duran appearing off the bench again.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Maatsen; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins
Key Stats
- Club Brugge and Aston Villa have never previously faced off in any competition. The Belgian champions are winless in 14 European games (including qualifiers) against English clubs, drawing three and losing 11 since a 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1995. Villa’s last meeting with a Belgian opponent was in the 1981/82 European Cup semi-final against RSC Anderlecht, winning 1-0 at home and drawing 0-0 away on their way to lifting the trophy that year.
- Club Brugge have lost their last three home UEFA Champions League matches, failing to score in each game while conceding nine goals. They have only lost four successive UCL games at home once, between 2016 and 2018.
- Aston Villa have won their first three UEFA Champions League matches without conceding a goal. Only three teams have won their opening four games: AC Milan in 1993, Paris Saint-Germain in 1994 and Juventus in 1995, none of whom did so with a clean sheet in each tie.
- Across Club Brugge’s last 15 UEFA Champions League matches, they have either conceded 2+ goals (nine games, 35 conceded) or kept a clean sheet (six games). Since the start of 2022/23, only Inter Milan (63%) have a higher clean sheet rate than Brugge (6/11, 55%) among teams to feature in more than one campaign.
- Unai Emery has faced Belgian opponents four times before in the UEFA Champions League, keeping a clean sheet each time (W3 D1). The Aston Villa manager has won his last three games by an aggregate score of 16-0 (Valencia 7-0 Genk in 2011, Anderlecht 0-4 PSG and PSG 5-0 Anderlecht both in 2017).
Player to Watch
Jhon Duran
The last two games might have brought the morale down at Aston Villa, considering the Villans have been flying high for a long time under Unai Emery. Suddenly, they are no longer in the EFL Cup, while the competition for a top-four finish is more intense than ever, meaning every loss hurts.
So, with Ollie Watkins not at his best thus far this season, the onus is on Jhon Duran to find his best touch from the early days of the 2024/25 season. The Colombian international has been on the money in the UEFA Champions League, and Aston Villa fans will hope he brings his A-Game to the match vs Club Brugge this midweek.
Prediction
Club Brugge 0-1 Aston Villa
Club Brugge’s daunting start to the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League continues this midweek, as they face one of only two teams to win all three games in this season’s competition. While the Villans head into the midweek European fixture on the back of successive defeats, they have looked a different team in Europe.
The Aston Villa defenders should continue making their mark in the game vs Club Brugge, and another clean sheet is on the cards. The home side’s unwanted run of not scoring in home games in the UEFA Champions League will continue, although this time, they will not concede twice or more times. The Hard Tackle predicts a hard-fought 1-0 win for Unai Emery and his charges.