Match Previews

Alcaraz(r) (def), Maertens(sp) (def), De Smet(sp) (def), Daerden(k) (mid), Vermeulen(sp) (mid) and Van Heerden® (mid) injured. Two weeks Club Brugge took an important step towards the qualification for the UEFA cup group stages. In their first leg of their double qualification confrontation against Brann Bergen, Blauw Zwart managed to beat the leader in the Norwegian league, 0-1. This goal earned Club Brugge an excellent position for the return in two weeks. Blauw Zwart must be able to play this out professionally. On top of that, their second place in the Belgian Jupiler League must give them confidence as well. Still, there are some doubts remaining. In particular, Club Brugge’s poor defending in the Jupiler League this weekend. The men of coach Jacky Mathijssen won their home encounter against Excelsior Moeskroen, 1-0, but they gave away an awful lot of chances. This has to change on Thursday. For that game, Birger Maertens(sp) is still out due to an injury and so are Antolin Alcaraz(r) and  Gert-Jan De Mets(sp). In midfield, Koen Daerden(k) and Jorn Vermeulen(sp) are still unavailable as well. Elrio Van Heerden® is slowly recovering from the injury that keeps him sidelined, but the game against Brann certainly comes to early. As a result, Mathijssen will play with a similar team as he did last weekend. This means that  Wesley Sonck® and François Sterchele(k) will probably be the two strikers. This would be a change compared to two weeks ago. Then, Ibrahim Salou(sp) started instead of Sterchel, who score the only goal. The Ghanaian is the only striker in Brugge’s squad who is as tall and strong as the Norwegian defenders.