Aston Villa Vs. Club Brugge Prediction: Villa Park Prepares To Welcome The Death Match

JAKARTA - Aston Villa will host Club Brugge in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday night, March 12 or Thursday morning WIB. The Villans currently have a two-goal aggregate advantage after a 3-1 win in Belgium last week. With a great opportunity to advance to the quarter-finals in their debut in this competition, Unai Emery's side are now on the verge of history.

On the other hand, Club Brugge had to fight hard to turn things around after a defeat at home. Their poor record against the England team is an additional challenge for this Belgian team.

After losing 0-1 in the group stage at Bruges, Aston Villa proved his toughness in the first leg of the last 16 with an impressive performance. Leon Bailey opened the scoring for Villa before Maxim De Cuyper equalized for the hosts.

However, Brandon Mechele's fatal mistake, who scored an own goal in the 82nd minute and Christos Tzolis' foul that awarded Villa a penalty, forced them to give up 1-3. Marco Asensio, who came on as a substitute, coldly executed the penalty.

With this result, Villa has the opportunity to become the first English team to reach the Champions League quarter-finals in his debut season since Leicester City eight years ago. Unai Emery himself has extensive experience in European competitions, only losing three times in his last 19 home games in the Champions League with various clubs.

Villa are now in a positive trend after winning their last three games in all competitions. A 1-0 win over Brentford on weekends brought them back to compete at the top of the Premier League and increased confidence ahead of this match. In addition, they also managed to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals, affirming their big ambitions this season.

At home, Villa are very tough. They are unbeaten in the last 15 games at Villa Park and are ready to host the Belgian team for the first time since 1982, as they beat Anderlecht in the semifinals before becoming European champions.

As a finalist for the 1978 Champions Cup, Club Brugge rarely reached the knockout stages of the Champions League. This is the second time they have advanced so far after eliminating Atalanta in the playoffs. However, the defeat in the first leg put them in a difficult position.

Statistics are not on Brugge's side. They have lost six times in the first leg of the knockout stages at home and have always failed to turn things around. In addition, they never won in 14 visits to England, with 12 of them ending in defeat. Only Anderlegcht and Dynamo Kyiv had a worse record when playing in England without a win.

At the end of last week, Brugge bounced back with a 3-1 win over city rivals, Cercle Brugge, in a Pro League Belgian match. Goals from Hans Vanaken and Ferran Jutgla's two goals ensured three important points for Nicky Hayen's side. Although the result slightly boosted morale, a tough task awaits them in Birmingham.

Brugge remains hopeful as they have only failed to score in one of their last 37 matches. In addition, a 3-1 win at home to Atalanta shows that they can achieve good results in away matches. However, facing Aston Villa who is in an impressive performance at home itself will be their biggest test.

Unai Emery began to have a more complete squad after several players recovered from injury. Amadou Onana (magnetic injury) and Ross Barkley (chip injury) are still absent, but Marco Asensio and Emiliano Martinez who missed the weekend match are likely to return to play.

Pau Torres, who has just recovered from an ankle injury, is competing withLAW Mings for the center-back position. Meanwhile, Axel Disasi appeared solid against Brentford and was able to return to the right-back position.

Two new players, Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia, were unable to play because they were not registered in the Champions League squad.

Joaquin Seys and Bjorn Meijer are still absent due to a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Hans Vanaken is ready to make his 50th appearance in the Champions League. This veteran midfielder has been a key player for Brugge since 2016-17, with only Lautaro Martinez (51) having a longer record with one club in the competition.

Ferran Jutgla, who scored twice at the weekend, will lead the attacking line with Chemsdine Talbi who scored three goals in their last three games in Europe.

Aston Villa had a two-goal advantage and an impressive home record, while Brugge had to fight their bad history in England. With these conditions, Villa are predicted to advance to the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win in the second leg.

Estimated Lineup Of Players

Aston Villa:Martinez; Dissasi, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, Rashford; Watkins

Club Brugge:Mignolet; Sabbe, Ordonez, Mechele, De Cuyper; Onyedika, Jashari; Talbi, Vanaken, Tzolis; Jutgla

Score Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 Club Brugge (Aggregate: 5-1)