KA Akureyri welcome Club Brugge to Laugardalsvollur in the second leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round on Thursday night.

Following their 5-1 thrashing in Belgium last week, Hallgrímur Jonasson’s men know their qualification journey is effectively over but will look to go down swinging. Akureyri also failed to find their feet after the humiliating loss to Club Brugge last week, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Breidablik Kópavogur in the Icelandic top flight on Sunday. Jónasson’s side have picked up 22 points from 18 Besta Deild Karla games to sit eighth in the league standings, six points off the Champions round qualifying places. The Brugge's outfit turned in another performance of the highest quality on Sunday, steamrolling Eupen 5-0 in the Jupiler League. Ronny Deila’s men have picked up seven points from their opening three league games to sit third in the new Belgian top flight. I expect Brugge to win this game, but with an handicap of +2.5, KA Akureyri should be winning. These are my reasons:

Firstly. Akureyri have now gone five games without a win across all competitions, a run that saw them suffer a 5-1 thrashing against Brugge in last week’s first leg. They had recorded three draws and two losses during this run of results. Agonisingly, they have failed to keep any clean sheet in their last six games. They are struggling somewhat at the moment, but they have managed to maintain decent record at home. They are unbeaten at home in their last eight games, winning five of them. Their home form should count for something.

Secondly. Brugge kicked off their quest for a place in the Europa League with a 3-1 aggregate win over AGF Aarhus in the second qualifying round and will look to pick up from where they dropped off at the weekend. Deila’s side are on a run of three wins across all competitions, scoring 11 goals and keeping two clean sheets since a 1-0 loss against AGF Aarhus on August 3. That loss is the only loss they have recorded in their last six outings.

Brugge have put together a fine run of form in recent weeks and will back themselves to pick up from where they had dropped off in the first leg. But I believe the manager will look to rest some of the starters for this game as they have almost virtually sealed their place for the next round. With Brugge's intensity expected to reduce, I expect Akureyri to win only with +2.5 handicap.

阿库雷里欢迎布鲁日在周四晚上举行的欧联杯第三轮资格赛第二回合比赛中做客劳加达尔沃尔。

上周在比利时以5比1大败后，Hallgrímur约纳松的队员们知道他们的出线之旅已经结束了，但他们将继续努力。阿库雷里在上周耻辱地输给布鲁日俱乐部后也没能站稳脚跟，周日在冰岛顶级联赛中被布雷达布里克1-1逼平Kópavogur。Jónasson的球队在与贝斯塔·德·卡尔拉的18场比赛中积22分，排名联赛第八，离冠军杯资格赛的名额还差6分。在周日的木星联赛中，布鲁日的球队以5-0的比分击败了欧洲队。罗尼·德拉的球队在前三场联赛中拿到了7分，在新的比利时顶级联赛中排名第三。我希望布鲁日能赢得这场比赛，但是在+2.5的不利条件下，阿库雷里应该会赢。以下是我的理由:

首先。阿库雷里在各项赛事中已经五场未胜，上周他们在首回合以5-1大胜布鲁日。在这轮比赛中，他们取得了三平两负的战绩。令人痛心的是，他们在过去的六场比赛中没有一场不失球。他们现在有些挣扎，但他们在主场保持了不错的战绩。他们在最近的八场主场比赛中保持不败，赢了其中的五场。他们的家庭形式应该有所体现。

其次。布鲁日在欧联杯预选赛第二轮以总比分3-1战胜奥胡斯，开启了他们对欧联杯席位的争夺，他们希望能从周末的失利中振作起来。自8月3日0比1输给奥胡斯AGF以来，德拉的球队在各项赛事中取得了3场胜利，打入11球，并保持了2场零失球。这场失利是他们在过去六场比赛中唯一的失利。

布鲁日在最近几周打出了不错的状态，他们将从首回合的下滑中振作起来。但是我相信主教练会在这场比赛中让一些首发球员休息，因为他们几乎已经锁定了下一轮的席位。由于布鲁日的强度预计会降低，我预计阿库雷里只会以+2.5的差点获胜。