Club Brugge vs Aston Villa Bet Builder Tips: Tzolis to hit target in 14/1 four-fold

Aston Villa have made the perfect start to their Uefa Champions League league phase campaign, beating Young Boys, Bayern Munich and Bologna, and they will look to make it four out of four when they take on Club Brugge at the Jay Breydel Stadion on Wednesday (17:45, TNT Sports 2).

Read on for my Club Brugge vs Aston Villa Bet Builder tips, where I have drawn up a 14/1 four-fold.

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Club Brugge vs Aston Villa Odds

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Result - Aston Villa Win

Three games without a win is unusual territory for Aston Villa under Unai Emery, who has transformed the club's fortunes since replacing Steven Gerrard as head coach in October 2022. The Spaniard led the Villans to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League last season, ensuring qualification to European football's premier club competition for the first time in 41 years.

Villa made a terrific start to the 2024/25 campaign, winning nine of their first 12 games across all competitions, including all three in the Champions League league phase to sit top of the 32-team standings heading into gameweek four.

However, after beating Bologna 2-0 in their last European outing on October 22, Villa have been held 1-1 at home in the Premier League by AFC Bournemouth, beaten 2-1 at Villa Park by Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, and thrashed 4-1 by top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur in north London.

Despite this poor run of form, I'm backing Emery to inspire a return to winning ways on Wednesday, and in truth, a victory is exactly what they should be getting.

Club Brugge beat Sturm Graz 1-0 in Klagenfurt on October 2 but the Austrian outfit are one of six clubs - at the time of writing - yet to get a point on the board in the league phase, and Wednesday's hosts were beaten 3-0 in Brugge by Borussia Dortmund and 3-1 by AC Milan in Italy either side of that victory.

They have won their last three games in all competitions, beating Anderlecht 2-1 at home and Leuven 1-0 away in the Jupiler Pro League either side of a 6-1 Belgian Cup blitzing of National Division 1 team Belisia Bilzen.

But, crucially, none of those sides possess anywhere near the quality - or finances - of Villa, and Emery will be desperate for his side to get back in the groove ahead of a difficult trip to Liverpool on Saturday evening, so I don't see him taking this game lightly.

Player Goals - Jhon Duran (AVL) Anytime Goalscorer

Jhon Duran's last Villa start came exactly a week ago in the cup against Palace, and he duly delivered on my 6/4 pre-match tip to score anytime in that match. He's 2/1 to find the net in Brugge, which I think is good value considering his form this season.

The 20-year-old has struck eight times in 15 appearances for Villa, including three in as many starts. He began and finished Villa's 2-1 Carabao Cup win at Wycombe Wanderers on September 24 and also bagged in his first Champions League start, the 2-0 victory over Bologna, before striking past Palace last week.

He was demoted to the substitutes bench again on Sunday for the Premier League defeat at Spurs but should be given a chance from the off again on Wednesday considering first-choice striker Ollie Watkins has just one goal in his last eight outings for club and country. The Englishman has a fine deputy in Duran and the Colombia international deserves the chance to net in a fourth successive start this term.

If he does get the nod, I fully expect him to take his chance against a side that shipped three goals to each of Dortmund and Milan.

Recent footage has emerged of Duran walking out of a training session, however - whether it was due to an injury, a bust-up, or anything else, is unknown.

Should he fail to make the game in Brugge, I'd swap this selection for Watkins.

Player Stats - Christos Tzolis (BRU) 1+ Shots on Target

Former Norwich City winger Christos Tzolis hasn't been shy to shoot in the Champions League this season, averaging 2.7 shots per game in the league phase. The 22-year-old shot twice each against Dortmund and Milan either side of four efforts away to Sturm Graz.

Tzolis failed to trouble Dortmund shot-stopper Gregor Kobel but hit the target with three of his attempts against Sturm Graz, scoring the winner in the 23rd minute, and brought two saves out of Milan star Mike Maignan at San Siro.

Bologna had four shots on target at Villa Park in late October and Bayern had seven earlier in the month, while Young Boys forced Villa number one Emiliano Martinez into four saves in Switzerland in September.

Tzolis has looked dangerous in the Champions League and will back himself to at least test Martinez in Brugge.

Player Cards - Boubacar Kamara (AVL) Carded

Boubacar Kamara returned from a six-month injury absence in Villa's victory over Bologna on October 22 and has since appeared three more times, starting once - the Carabao Cup defeat to Palace.

The 24-year-old must be closing in on a return to Emery's starting XI, especially given fellow central midfielder Ross Barkley is sidelined until after the international break. The manner of Sunday's defeat as well, must tempt the Villa head coach into starting the Frenchman on Wednesday.

Kamara only appeared as a late substitute in Villa's last Champions League outing against Bologna but managed to make a foul, as he did in similar circumstances at Spurs on Sunday. He also gave away a free-kick in his only start, at home to Palace.

The former Olympique Marseille man was a regular in the referee's notebook in the 2023/34 campaign before succumbing to injury, being booked seven times in 20 Premier League appearances and averaging 1.8 fouls per game.

Even if he's a late arrival into Wednesday's game, I wouldn't be surprised to see him quickly get into the thick of the action and make a yellow card-worthy foul if Villa are hanging on to a positive result.

Offers

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