Anderlecht Vs Club Brugge
Thursday 19th December 2019 – 19:45 Kick-Off
Belgian Cup
Pick: Club Brugge to WIN
Odds: 4/5
Bookmaker: BetVictor
(All betting odds displayed were correct at the time of writing: 16th December 2019 at 23:10)
Preview: It is the last-eight stage of the Belgian Cup, a competition which grants the winner direct entry into the Europa League group stage. This quarter-final focuses on the meeting taking place on Thursday, in Brussels, between the two most successful clubs in this competition: Anderlecht versus Club Brugge.
Anderlecht Preview – Cup best route into Europe?
Despite not enjoying any success in this competition during the current decade, Anderlecht remain as the second-most successful club in the history of the Belgian Cup with eight titles. The last of them dating back to 2008. Since then there has been only one final appearance, which was against Club Brugge in 2015 that was, unfortunately for them, subsequently lost 2-1. Considering all the current issues with the club, it seems unlikely their barren patch will come to end this season either.
The club made plenty of headlines during the summer when it was confirmed that Vincent Kompany would become their next manager, despite the former Man City defender possessing no prior managerial experience. His first couple months in charge were an unmitigated disaster, to such an extent that Franky Vercauteren has assumed the role of head coach and, to his credit, steadied the ship ever since.
From losing five of their opening eight league fixtures (W1 D2 L5) to one defeat in the last eleven (W4 D6 L1), Vercauteren has, at the very least, made this team more robust and difficult to beat. Particularly at home: their last such defeat was back in mid-September, going six unbeaten since (W3 D3). Only one visiting side in that time managed breach their defence more than once. Meanwhile, the previous rounds seen them oust Beerschot (2-3 AET) and Excel Mourscron (2-3) after high-scoring encounters.
Club Brugge Preview – League and Cup double on the cards?
Belgian First Division title number sixteen is not quite in the bag although it would require a collapse of drastic proportions for Club Brugge not to finish the campaign as national champions. They have been head and shoulders above all their rivals during the first half of the season, losing only once in eighteen league fixtures (W13 D3 L1, GF41 GA7) to put together an eight point lead atop the standings.
This, of course, is the Belgian Cup and while Blauw-Zwart can lay claim to being the most successful club in the history of the competition, with their eleven titles three more than next-best Anderlecht, it has been four seasons without any success. In fact, there hasn’t even been an appearance in the final in any of the last three campaigns. So they are hardly cup specialists, certainly not recently. Yet few would deny they are the strongest out of the remaining sides.
Club Brugge have only competed in two prior rounds, coming through their first encounter comfortably against Francs Borains (0-3) but needing penalties to overcome fellow top-flight opponents Oostende following a 1-1 draw in normal time. Their record away from home in the league, meanwhile, remains extremely impressive with seven wins – five without conceding – and only one loss (W7 D0 L1, GF18 GA4).
Anderlecht Vs Club Brugge – Key Facts:
- Anderlecht sit tenth in the Belgian First Division (W5 D8 L6) but will hope to utilise form that has seen them avoid defeat in ten of their last eleven league matches (W4 D6 L1).
- Club Brugge boast an eight-point advantage atop the Belgian First Division (W14 D3 L1) and will be confident of the win in the knowledge they have won seven of eight away league games this season (W7 L1).
- Remarkably, a 3-2 win for Club Brugge away to Anderlecht last season was their first in this fixture as the visiting team for 30 years (D12 L18 in between).
Betting Summary
We almost have no option but to work on the assumption that both clubs want to seriously progress in this competition and will thus name their strongest possible line-ups. On this basis, Club Brugge are an obvious pick. Not only have they dominated the recent head-to-head by winning four of the previous five meetings, but they have quite clearly been the dominant force domestically so far this season, losing only once in the league to sit eight points clear at the top having amassed some 22 points more than opponents Anderlecht.
Some props go to the latter for stringing together a run of one loss in eleven (W4 D6 L1). However, they remain overly reliant on draws to keep them ticking over. Goals have been, and still are, hard to come by: since the start of the current league term, only three teams have netted fewer than their 22 from 19 league games. No goal was scored at all on seven occasions, which is the exact number of goals Club Brugge have shipped all season, with this stoic defence of theirs the best in the country – by a huge distance!
