Club Brugge vs Sporting CP Prediction: It could be honours even for bookings at 7/2

It’s Club Brugge vs Sporting CP on Tuesday, December 10 (20:00), live on TNT Sports 6 as two teams with a decent chance at making the next round go to battle in a vital match in Belgium.     

Portugal-based Jamie Pacheco thinks the hosts can avoid defeat at 4/6 while there’s also a good bet on offer at 7/2 that they’ll end up with the same number of cards.  Check out why he's made his selections and his Club Brugge vs Sporting CP Predictions in his full match preview below...

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Club Brugge  

Club Brugge have made a decent start to their domestic campaign, sitting in second place, four points off leaders Genk.  

They're on 10 wins off their 17 matches and scored exactly twice (36) as many goals as they've conceded (18) which is always a good sign.  

In Europe, it's been something of a mixed campaign with two wins, a draw and two defeats but a 1-0 win against Aston Villa has helped put them in 22nd place (in the play-off places as things stand, albeit as an unseeded team), which to give it all some context, is just one point off the likes of Manchester City and Juventus.  A win here and they'll be right in the mix.  

They come into this match on the back of a 2-1 win against Melchen. Danish forward Andreas Skov Olsen has six goals for the season and so does Belgian midfielder Hans Vanaken; they're a side who tend to share the goals around.   

Possible Starting Line-up: Mignolet, Ordonez, Mewchele, De Cruyper, Seys, Tzolis, Onyedika, Vanaken, Jashari, Slov Olsen, Jutgla.  

Sporting CP  

If you ever wanted a good example of how losing the manager can have a huge effect on the club, look no further than Sporting and Ruben Amorim.  

They were absolutely flying under him before he left for Manchester United but have since been well-beaten by Arsenal (1-5) in Europe and lost back-to-back matches in the league.  Prior to those two defeats, they'd won all their league matches. Given new manager Joao Pereira is under investigation for not having the necessary qualifications to be in charge and these recent results, and you wonder if we'll soon be seeing their third manager of the season arrive at some stage.  

At least that good start under Amorim means they're in tenth place in this competition, so have some breathing space; they may well need it.  

Viktor Gyokeres scored his 25h goal of the season in their weekend loss at Moreirense and they'll need plenty more from him if they're to keep their campaign on track.  

Possible Starting line-up: Israel, Reis, Debast/Diomande, Inacio, Santos, Morita, Hjumland, Quenda, Catamo, Gyokeres, Trincao.  

Club Brugge vs Sporting CP Odds

Brugge are 15/8 (implied probability of 34.8%) with Sporting 23/20 (45.5%) and the draw 12/5 (29.4%). 

At first glance, the visitors look too short. Yes, they did win one of their two away games in the competition but that was against a poor Sturm Graz side; they drew 1-1 at Feyenoord in their other away match of the campaign.  

Good domestic results mean Brugge will at least have some confidence and momentum about them, while you have to think Sporting are losing both of those qualities by the game. Whether Pereira doesn't quite have what it takes or if the players are sulking at the exit of their beloved former coach is hard to know, but they're not in a good place.  

That straight win at 15/8 is a decent enough price, as is the 6/5 on Brugge on the Draw No Bet market, but the better option is to take the shorter price on Brugge/Draw on the Double Chance market at 4/6. If the Belgians can avoid defeat, we're home and dry.  

Team with most booking points  

Brugge have so far had 10 yellow cards for the season in the Champions League, while Sporting have had eight. Sporting have had 14 yellow cards shown to opposition players, Brugge have had 15.  

With the stats so tight in this regard in what should be quite an even match, it's worth taking a punt that they end up with the same number of cards here, which is a 7/2 chance and should give you a very decent run for your money.  

Alternatively, it's evens that the hosts get more and 8/5 that Sporting do.  

Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket and European Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Football Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Football hub page...