Manchester United travel to the Jan Bredydel Stadium to face Club Brugge on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League Round of 32 clash.
The Red Devils come into this game on the back of an important away win at Stamford Bridge. Man Utd have moved up to seventh in the Premier League table – three points behind fourth-place Chelsea.
Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s men are unbeaten in their previous four games in all competitions. After thrashing Tranmere 6-0 in the FA Cup, United beat arch rivals Manchester City in the EFL Cup.
Man Utd then played out a goalless draw with fellow Europa League hopefuls Wolves before putting themselves in a strong position to finish in the top four with victory over Chelsea.
However, Club Brugge are enjoying an outstanding unbeaten run of their own. Philippe Clement’s side are unbeaten in their last 12 league games and have only lost once in the Belgian Pro League all season.
18 wins and seven draws from 26 games have seen Club Brugge open up a commanding lead at the top of the table. Brugge’s nearest challengers Gent remain nine points behind.
The Belgian outfit find themselves in the Europa League knockout stages after finishing third in their Champions League group earlier in the campaign.
Still, it’s no surprise that Brugge failed to win any of their six games in Group A after being drawn against PSG, Real Madrid and Galatasaray.
On the other hand, Man Utd only lost one of their Europa League group games and finished up with a 4-0 thrashing over AZ Alkmaar on Matchday 6.
Remarkably, United are unbeaten in their last ten Europa League knockout games – winning six and drawing four – and the English side won the competition in 2016/17.
Club Brugge have no fresh injury worries heading into Thursday’s clash. Hans Vanaken is their man to watch as the midfielder has netted 16 goals already this season.
As for Man Utd, Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay remain absent, but Eric Baily could start after impressing on his return from injury against Chelsea.
Club Brugge have been in great form domestically this season, but Man Utd should have enough quality to come away from the first leg with a healthy lead.
Forebet predicts that United will score over 2.5 goals on their way to victory. However, both teams are likely to get on the scoresheet.