Club Brugge vs Lens - prediction, team news, lineups

French broadside Lens question to Belgium to instrumentality connected Club Brugge astatine Jan Breydel Stadium successful the Champions League connected Wednesday night.

Both teams participate the latest circular of League Phase fixtures having picked up 3 points from their opening 2 matches.

Match preview

After suffering a 3-2 location decision to Aston Villa successful their opening Champions League fixture, Club Brugge produced 1 of the upsets of matchday 2 arsenic they bushed Serie A champions Inter Milan 4-3 successful a thrilling contention astatine San Siro past week.

In-demand Nicolo Tresoldi grabbed the headlines with a superb hat-trick – expanding his extremity tally for the play to 9 aft 12 appearances – earlier Romeo Vermant added a 4th connected a memorable nighttime for Blauw-Zwart.

Brugge person surely brought the amusement origin to the Champions League, arsenic their past six matches successful the contention person produced 31 goals astatine an mean of 5.17 per game. Meanwhile, each of their past 12 matches person seen a first-half extremity scored, with six netted crossed their archetypal 2 fixtures this term.

Head manager Ivan Leko successfully steered Brugge to their 20th Belgian top-flight rubric past play and they presently beryllium 2nd successful the array this word aft winning 7 of their opening 8 league fixtures. They astir precocious bushed Lokeren 1-0 successful the past 32 of the Belgian Cup connected Saturday.

Brugge caput into Wednesday’s clash with Lens having won their past 2 matches against French opposition, some astatine location successful the League Phase of the Champions League against Monaco successful September 2025 (4-1) and Marseille successful January this twelvemonth (3-0).

Lens kick-started their fourth-ever Champions League run with a singular 3-2 comeback triumph distant against Slavia Prague past month. They fell down successful the 88th-minute to their opponents with 10 men but scored 2 stoppage-time goals to seal each 3 points successful melodramatic fashion.

Les Sang et Or were incapable to station back-to-back wins, though, arsenic they were beaten 2-0 astatine location to Sporting Lisbon past week, contempt registering much shots (17), much shots connected people (six), much possession (54%), much passes (526) and doubly arsenic galore corners (six) than their Portuguese counterparts.

New caput manager Yannick Cahuzac has alternated betwixt decision and triumph successful his archetypal 4 games successful complaint since replacing Dino Toppmoller past month, with his Lens broadside returning to winning ways past play arsenic they secured a 3-1 occurrence implicit Troyes successful Ligue 1.

Cahuzac believes that his squad is “on the close track” aft a shaky commencement to the campaign, with Lens sitting eighth successful the Ligue 1 standings and lone 4 points disconnected the summit, portion they are 1 of 13 teams retired of 36 who person collected 3 points from their opening 2 Champions League matches.

Twenty-eight years to the time of Wednesday’s clash with Club Brugge, Lens won their archetypal crippled successful the Champions League due – 1-0 astatine location to Panathinaikos successful 1998 – and they are present bidding to grounds successive distant wins successful the contention having antecedently endured a tally of 16 European matches connected the roadworthy without a triumph (D7 L9).

Club Brugge Champions League form:

Club Brugge signifier (all competitions):

Lens Champions League form:

Lens signifier (all competitions):

Team News

Club Brugge are inactive having to header without centre-back Joel Ordonez arsenic helium continues to retrieve from a metatarsal fracture, portion left-back Bjorn Meijer is besides sidelined with s thigh problem.

Brandon Mechele volition marque his 50th quality successful the Champions League if helium features successful the bosom of the defence connected Wednesday. The 33-year-old would go lone the 2nd Club Brugge subordinate to scope that people aft midfield maestro Hans Vanaken (62).

After making six changes astatine the weekend, Leko is acceptable to revert to a stronger starting lineup that whitethorn see Kyriani Sabbe, Hugo Vetlesen, Carlos Forbs and prima striker Tresoldi, who is the joint-top scorer successful this season’s UCL with 4 goals.

As for Lens, Maik Nawrocki (knee) and Abdallah Sima (leg) stay retired for extended periods owed to injury, portion Jonathan Gradit began idiosyncratic grooming past week but is improbable to beryllium progressive against Brugge.

Experienced skipper Florian Thauvin has contributed to 12 goals (five goals, 7 assists) successful 10 appearances crossed each competitions this word and is acceptable to instrumentality up an precocious cardinal presumption alongside Junior Kadile, with Odsonne Edouard oregon Franjo Ivanovic starring the line.

Samson Baidoo volition conflict with Jean-Clair Todibo for a commencement astatine centre-back, portion Amadou Haidara and Michael Cuisance could some beryllium recalled astatine the disbursal of Yacine Titraoui and Andrija Bulatovic to commencement successful centre-midfield.

Club Brugge imaginable starting lineup:

Sommer; Sabbe, Mechele, Spileers, Seys; Potts, Vetlesen; Forbs, Vanaken, Vergili; Tresoldi

Lens imaginable starting lineup:

Risser; Antonio, Ganiou, Baidoo; Abdulhamid, Cuisance, Haidara, Udol; Thauvin, Kadile; Ivanovic

We say: Club Brugge 2-1 Lens

Club Brugge person mislaid lone 1 of the 13 Champions League location matches successful which they person scored archetypal (W10 D2), portion Lens person led astatine fractional clip successful conscionable 1 of their erstwhile 20 UCL fixtures, truthful a accelerated commencement from the hosts could beryllium successful store here.

We expect goals astatine some ends of the pitch, but the hosts whitethorn yet person capable firepower to outscore their opponents and prime up each 3 points successful an entertaining contest.

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