Aston Villa v Club Brugge: Supercomputer predicts result of Champions League tie
Aston Villa have put themselves in a commanding position going into the second leg against Club Brugge in the Champions League.
In Belgium on 4 March, Villa managed to pull off a 3-1 victory despite not being at their best against Brugge.
They now will want to see out the tie in front of their home fans at Villa Park on 12 March.
Unai Emery expected to guide his Aston Villa side to the quarterfinals
Opta Analyst’s Supercomputer crunched the numbers and Unai Emery’s side is expected to make it through to the quarterfinals after their two-goal advantage.
They ran simulations and in 94.6 per cent of those, they managed to progress through to the final eight.
The hosts have even been predicted to win the second leg outright in 55.5 per cent of the simulations.
Leon Bailey, Marco Asensio and a Brandon Mechele own goal saw the Birmingham outfit find the back of the net thrice and that may prove to be the difference on Wednesday night.
Liverpool or PSG next in the Champions League
While being drawn at home to Brugge was a favourable draw, facing Liverpool or PSG next is certainly a more daunting ask.
That said, it’s the final eight of the best teams in Europe so Villa have to be able to go toe to toe with anyone that comes their way.
| Stats | Club Brugge | Aston Villa |
| Possession | 56% | 44% |
| Shots | 11 | 7 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 4 |
Unlike last week, they cannot afford to let Brugge dominate possession or have the majority of the shots on goal.
Emery can make life difficult for opponents by telling his players to sit deep and asking them to be extremely compact.
However, they should go out and play like the score is 0-0 and aim to win the game rather than think of not conceding two goals.