Club Brugge hosts Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Belgium, the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinal clash.


Club Brugge won all 4 matches in the Europa League KO stage, with the double win over Besiktas being especially impressive. The home side was on an amazing run of 8 consecutive wins before a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Kortrijk over the weekend in the 2nd round of the playoffs … of course Brugge was thinking more about this game with Dnipro, but the league match was also very important, because the title is far from decided. Meunier is the only missing player from Brugge today.

Club Brugge projected lineup:
Ryan – Meunier, Mechele, Duarte, De Bock – Vormer, Simons – Bolingoli-Mbombo, Refaelov, Vazquez – De Sutter

Dnipro needed extra time to qualify vs. Ajax in the past round (1-0 home, 0-1 away and 1-2 after extra time). Dnipro is in a similar good form with Brugge … 8 wins in the last 10 matches but a draw last round, 0-0 vs. Metalist Kharkov. Evgheny Shakhov will not be in the lineup today for Dnipro, but he is the only injury worry for the home team.

Dnipro projected lineup:
Boyko – Fedetskiy, Douglas, Cheberyachko, Leo Matos – Kankava, Rotan, Bezus, Luchkevych, Konoplyanka – Kalinic

This will be a very close game and I think both teams will start in a very cautious manner … playing tentative football, testing the opponent. A place in the Europa League semifinals would be a historic achievement for either side so I can’t see them taking risks … especially not in the first half. Brugge can not afford to concede a goal early and Dnipro can play very destructive football when the stakes are high. I think Brugge might get a win (barely), but if they will, it will probably be with a late goal … when maybe things open up a bit and legs and minds tire, determining errors. My tip will be a half time draw. Correct score prediction: Club Brugge – Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1-0 (0-0 half time).

Pick: Half time draw
Odds: 2.10