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After comfortably defeating Red Bull Salzburg and thrashing Rangers during qualifying, many thought Club Brugge would make serious inroads in this season’s Champions League. That notion was further strengthened when Nicky Hayen’s men recorded a 4-1 victory over Monaco on the opening matchday, but a run of four outings without a win leaves them in serious danger of an early elimination.
Consecutive away losses – going down 2-1 to Atalanta at the Stadio di Bergamo before taking a heavy beating from Bayern Munich in Bavaria – preceded an exhilarating 3-3 draw with La Liga giants Barcelona, which saw Brugge go ahead on three occasions before eventually settling for a point on home soil. The Belgians then lost 3-0 to Sporting Lisbon at the Estádio José Alvalade, resulting in them occupying a position outside the play-off places heading into matchweek six.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are now the only club in the competition with a 100% record, having confidently swept aside any challenge put before them. The Gunners won each of their opening four fixtures without conceding a goal, overcoming Athletic Bilbao, Olympiacos, Atlético Madrid, and Slavia Prague in clinical fashion. Lennart Karl’s first-half equaliser in last month’s meeting with Bayern Munich denied Mikel Arteta’s men a fifth clean sheet in a row, but it nevertheless spurred them towards an impressive 3-1 triumph.
As a result, Arsenal currently find themselves at the summit of the Champions League table, a position they’ve also become familiar with in the domestic arena of late.
TNT Sports will broadcast live coverage of Wednesday’s contest in Brugge, while those with a discovery+ subscription can access the match using the network’s dedicated app service.
Club Brugge v Arsenal – Key information
Date: Wednesday, 10th December
Kick-off time: 20:00 (BST)
Venue: Jan Breydel Stadium
Referee: Sven Jablonski (Assistant Referees: Eduard Beitinger and Lasse Koslowski, Fourth Official: Tobias Reichel)
VAR: Sascha Stegemann (Assistant VAR: Ivan Bebek)
TV Channels/Live stream: TNT Sports 2
Odds: Club Brugge – 8/1, Draw – 17/4, Arsenal – 1/3
Odds provided by bet365
Club Brugge v Arsenal team news
Both managers are without a handful of regular starters, although Arsenal’s current injury woes are arguably far worse than those of their opponents. Expect Mikel Arteta to adopt his usual system despite a growing list of absentees, while Brugge boss Nicky Hayen is likely to organise his side into a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Club Brugge team news
Brugge have experienced somewhat of a goalkeeping crisis in recent weeks, as Simon Mignolet and Nordin Jackers continue to struggle with injuries.
During a chaotic opening 17 minutes against Monaco, Mignolet conceded and saved a penalty, received a yellow card for dissent, and was substituted after developing an adductor problem. The ex-Liverpool ace returned at the end of last month, but has since sustained another strain due to overstretching. Meanwhile, former Belgian youth international Nordin Jackers is out with a fractured rib, leaving third-choice stopper Dani van den Heuvel to deputise between the sticks.
Argentinian centre-back Zaid Romero is sidelined with a back problem, while defensive midfielder Lynnt Audoor hasn’t featured since late October. Ludovit Reis is unavailable due to an ongoing shoulder issue. After sustaining a concussion during last week’s Croky Cup triumph over Oud-Heverlee Leuven, German-born striker Romeo Vermant will not be involved on Wednesday evening.
Club Brugge predicted line-up v Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Coach: Ivan Leko
Dani van den Heuvel (GK); Hugo Siquet, Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys; Aleksandar Stanković, Raphael
Onyedika; Carlos Forbs, Hans Vanaken, Christos Tzolis; Nicolò Tresoldi
Arsenal team news
Arteta is extremely light on defensive options, as the Gunners begin to feel the impact of exerting maximum effort on both domestic and continental fronts.
Jurrien Timber is set to once again operate at the heart of Arsenal’s defence, as the Dutch full-back continues to cover for crocked trio William Saliba (knock), Gabriel Magalhães (thigh), and Cristhian Mosquera (ankle). After being seen hobbling down the tunnel following Arsenal’s disappointing defeat to Aston Villa early on Saturday afternoon, Riccardo Calafiori is now also a doubt for this week’s trip to Belgium.
Leandro Trossard made a goalscoring return at Villa Park following a short absence, but appears to have aggravated the calf issue that caused him to miss the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge and last week’s 2-0 triumph over Brentford. Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres has been introduced from the bench in each of Arsenal’s most recent three fixtures after recovering from a hamstring issue, but could lead the line against Brugge to enable Mikel Merino to take a well-earned break.
Arsenal predicted line-up v Club Brugge (4-3-3)
Coach: Mikel Arteta
David Raya (GK); Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Piero Hincapié, Myles Lewis-Skelly; Martin Ødegaard, Martín Zubimendi, Declan
Rice; Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyökeres, Bukayo Saka
Where to watch on TV or live stream?
This week’s clash between Club Brugge and Arsenal will be televised exclusively live on TNT Sports 2, with the build-up commencing an hour before kick-off. As a sister network of TNT Sports, discovery+ is providing a stream of the match on its in-house app.
TNT Sports is currently the United Kingdom’s main broadcaster of Champions League football, although this is set to change within the next two years. After paying in excess of £1bn to acquire the rights, Paramount will provide comprehensive coverage of UEFA’s most prestigious club competition from 2027/28 onwards, with Amazon retaining their ‘first-pick’ of televised matches on a Tuesday evening.
Head-to-Head record
Although these two teams have regularly progressed to the knockout stages of UEFA Club Competitions in recent years, Club Brugge and Arsenal have never faced one another.
This stat is made all the more surprising by the fact that Brugge have been drawn against 12 other English sides, including Liverpool in two continental finals (1976 UEFA Cup and 1978 European Cup). Ahead of last season’s 1-0 triumph over Aston Villa during the opening phase of the Champions League, de Blauw-Zwart had failed to win any of their previous 17 meetings with English opposition.
Meanwhile, Arsenal were last beaten by a Belgian outfit almost 45 years ago, losing 1-0 to KFC Winterslag (who would later merge with Waterschei Thor to form four-time Belgian champions KRC Genk) in the early stages of the 1981/82 UEFA Cup. Although the North Londoners won the return leg at Highbury, Winterslag would progress to the next round thanks to the away goals rule.
Odds for Club Brugge v Arsenal
The odds, correct at the time of publication, are subject to change. All odds provided by bet365.