Club Brugge from Belgium host visitors from Germany at Jan Breydel Stadion for this UEFA Champions League group stage Round 5 battle. In theory the hosts still have a chance to qualify for the playoff rounds as they are four points behind Paris  - the team in the second place at the moment. In reality, however, with four points in the bank the realistic goal for them is to finish third and qualify for Europa League. This goal is definitely within their reach as Leipzig have only one point so far and for Brugge it would be a great achievement and will surely motivate them a lot! Let's take a closer look at this very interesting clash, especially betting-wise.

Even a draw would be a good result for the hosts as Leipzig do not have a good chance to beat Manchester City, the group leaders, in the final round. A result they would need to topple Brugge if they play a draw today.. This means if the match score is leveled at the late stage of the game the hosts will defend hard  - increasing a probability for our bet Brugge +0.5 goals to be a winner. Let's remember the Belgians did beat Leipzig a few months ago on Germany 2-1 at big underdogs. The hosts were a little better in that match based an true events on the pitch - perhaps a draw would have been a justified result. They had about 60% ball possession and created 13 scoring chances - Brugge had seven. The visitors did, however, record more shots on target. The key takeaway is that the Germans were clearly worse than expected and the difference between the two teams was not big. Leipzig, a bigger club from a better and more famous domestic league than the hosts, are once again clearly over-rated on the betting market. They are in bad shape and lost to a mediocre team Hoffenheim a few days ago 0-2 away from home. They were clear favorites on the betting market in this match which was a little hard to justify even before the match-. The statistics in this match are very unusual for this level : The hosts had 24 (!) scoring attempts whereas poor Leipzig had only four. The also failed to create any shots on target! Of course they can do better than this but still that match tells a lot about their current level.. They are in the 7th place in the Bundesliga with only 18 points. We must remember that the level of Bundesliga is not super-high, it is definitely less competitive than many seem to believe - behind Bayern Munich of course. For example the English Pre mier League is much more competitive! Leipzig have many problems with their squad at the moment - goalie Gulacsi has Covid-19, Adams is suspended, Poulsen and Olmo are injured. In addition, Haidara, Szoboszlai and Simakan have been listed doubtful at the time of writing this.

Brugge have been better in the Champions League than I would have expected and as a result I have raised their power rating! They have a few very talented players, especially Charles De Ketalere, and play well as a team. Heavy losses to Manchester City do not worry me at all ahead of this match - City are a top-3 team in the world.. In the group stage opener they forced Paris into a 1-1 draw at home and could easily even have won! A magnificent performance! Let's remember that PSG have Messi, Neymar and Mbappe to list a few stars.. Overall Brugge are a good home team and have only lost to City in their latest 12 home matches! Their fans are also great and will surely boost them today!

To sum up, the hosts have close to 60% to take at least a draw here! Let's increase our winning streak here!