- Marseille are playing their best football of the season and scoring plenty of goals.
- Brugge are playing well too, but have been conceding too many goals and their recent form has been patchy.
- Marseille won both meetings with Brugge by a 4 - 0 aggregate when they last faced off in the 1992/93 Champions League group phase.
Marseille look to book a last-16 berth
Olympique Marseille head to Bruges this Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League 2025-2026 with a narrow edge over Club Brugge KV at the bookies. L’OM are 2.22 with the Belgian side 2.95 and the draw 3.6.
Marseille’s head coach Roberto De Zerbi has had time to implement his ideas and has done a very good job in getting this team to play his high-energy, possession-based, high-tempo game. Marseille overload the centre of the park and play with pace and verticality, trying to dominate the ball while also looking to stretch the opposition with runs in behind.
The visitors are currently occupying a top-three spot in Ligue 1, maintaining Champions League qualification positions. They have a prolific and clinical attack with Mason Greenwood leading their goalscoring charts with double-digit goals this season. This is a team that has been scoring plenty of goals but also has some frailties that have been exposed against better European opposition.
Brugge have more of a counter-attacking, set-piece game
Club Brugge, on the other hand, are a much more compact and disciplined team that sits deep and tries to hit teams on the counter attack. They do have a lot of quality going forward, however, with captain Hans Vanaken setting up play from the attacking midfield position and finishing things off when needed, as he did in the 4-1 UEFA Champions League win over Kairat Almaty, which was followed by a 4-3 league win and 2-3 cup defeat.
There’s certainly an open game in prospect here, which makes both teams to score a good bet at 2.62, as Marseille will surely go for the win in a clash with the Belgians, knowing that they need a victory to all but book their place in the last 16, while Club Brugge will disrupt L’OM’s calculations if they win and prolong their own European run in the process.
Brugge have pace and finishing power up front with Christos Tzolis and Romeo Vermant, which has helped them score multiple goals in games, but Tzolis is a fitness doubt for this game. Ivan Leko has been reappointed after a turbulent period for the club, and he has imposed his pragmatic, organised style on the squad.
Marseille’s game looks the most likely
Brugge are currently third in the Belgian Pro League after 21 games, so they are in good form domestically. Marseille have also been going well, but they were humiliated 3-0 at Liverpool in their last Champions League game and can be vulnerable at the back against elite opposition. They have also enjoyed a string of high-scoring domestic victories, contributing to the notion that L’OM are scoring for fun right now.
Given Marseille’s terrific recent form, we are siding with the French club to come away from Bruges with a win; goal difference and the head-to-head record could be crucial in the race for qualification. The weather is likely to be cool and cloudy, but that is standard for a European night in late January.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg is the calm and clever presence at the heart of L’OM’s midfield and Leonardo Balerdi is a good reader of the game and effective organiser of the back four, but they will be tested again by Brugge’s counter-attack and set-piece prowess.
