Belgium Pro League Matchday 1, Friday, 26.07.2024 at 20:45
Since the 2016 season, Bruges have added six of the nine championship titles up for grabs to their own display case. A win is firmly planned for the start of the next season.
My Bruges Mechelen betting tip is aimed at a confident performance by the reigning Belgian champions and brings you odds of 2.35 at Oddset.
The bet is: “Bruges win without conceding a goal”
Club Brugge has dominated Belgian soccer for years. Six of the last nine championship trophies have landed in the hands of the Blauw-Zwarten.
Last year, the hosts snatched the 19th title in the club’s history. In the Championship play-offs, Nicky Hayen’s players even remained undefeated (7 wins, 3 draws).
Their opponents on the first matchday of the new season are KV Mechelen. The visitors were in the Europa League play-offs at the end of last season, but did not play a particularly important role there with five wins, one draw and four defeats.
As different as the performances were last season, the odds for victory in the best sports betting apps are just as different. Bruges will lead you to a maximum odds of 1.40 with a win, while you will receive seven times the profit for a win by the visitors
Mechelen have not been able to claim a win in a direct duel recently. None of the last five encounters showed a victory for the Yellow-Reds on the scoreboard.
The visitors’ goal tally in these duels was particularly sobering. Mechelen scored just one goal in the five previous meetings and therefore failed to score in four of them.
Three of these four matches between Bruges and Mechelen ended in a clean sheet for the current Belgian Pro League leaders
Let’s look at the figures for the past season. Brugge dominated the national competition, scoring an average of 2.1 goals per game (1st) and also had the strongest defense in the Belgian top flight (0.9 goals conceded per game).
The data for the expected values did not look significantly different either. No team in Belgian soccer scored more expected goals (78.7 xG) and conceded fewer expected goals (37.0 xGA) than the reigning champions.
KV Mechelen were well behind the home side in terms of expected goals. 62.6 expected goals (6th) and 58.1 expected goals conceded (8th) were both outside the top five
With an odds boost, I can even imagine a bet on a “Bruges win (HC -1)”. Even without the boost, there would be odds of over 2.00.
This opinion is backed up by three of the last five meetings in which Bruges have won by at least a two-goal margin.
However, the last two meetings between Bruges and Mechelen have both ended in draws
In addition to domestic success, the home side are also striving for great performances internationally. There was plenty of evidence of this last year.
While Mechelen were not represented internationally, the Blauw-Zwarten marched on to the semi-finals of the Conference League. Only there did they lose to AC Florence (2:3, 1:1).
The team’s performance in the group stage resembled their dominance at national level. In a group with Besiktas, Bodö/Glimt and FC Lugano, Bruges won five out of six matches and remained unbeaten.
Molde were knocked out of the competition in the round of 16, followed by PAOK Saloniki. Three of these four encounters went to the 19-time Belgian champions.
Performances such as these show that Bruges are gradually getting ahead of the majority of the competition at national level, even though they lost the Super Cup at the start of the year (1:2 against Royale Union Gilloise).
The fact that the home side reached the last four teams in the Conference League has flushed additional money into their coffers, allowing them to make profitable transfers in the summer.
Christos Tzolis, the current top scorer in the Bundesliga 2, joined the squad this season. In addition, center forward Gustaf Nilsson, midfielder Ardon Jashari and central defender Zaid Romero were brought in as reinforcements
All this was also possible because Igor Thiago filled the coffers with a transfer fee of 33 million euros.
New signing Tzolis was already on the pitch in the Super Cup and scored the only goal for Hayen’s side. His debut was definitely a success, at least from a personal point of view
The hosts are the best the Belgian Pro League currently has to offer. Their attack and defense are incomparable to any of their league rivals.
What’s more, the start of the new season will take place in front of the home crowd, further strengthening the Blauw-Zwarten’s role as favorites.
In other words, my Bruges Mechelen betting tip is: Bruges win without conceding a goal
