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Club Brugge will host Mechelen at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Sunday in the opening round of the 2023-24 Jupiler Pro League campaign.
The home side endured an highly underwhelming campaign last season prompting the dismissal of two different managers including former Bournemouth boss Scott Parker as they floundered in their title defense. They finished fourth in the league table with 59 points from 34 games, their lowest points tally in the Belgian top-flight since the 2006-07 campaign.
Club Brugge have appointed Ronny Deila as the new boss with the Norwegian leading the side to a 3-0 win over AGF in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers on Thursday.
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Mechelen also struggled to impress in the league last season as they finished 13th in the table with 40 points from 34 games, their first bottom-half league finish in five seasons. They, however, enjoyed a strong cup run, making it to the final of the Beker van Belgie before losing 2-0 to Royal Antwerp.
The visitors were beaten on penalties by Antwerp in the Belgian Super Cup last time out and will be looking to move on from that this weekend.
Club Brugge vs Mechelen Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Saturday's game will mark the 40th meeting between Club Brugge and Mechelen. The hosts have won 23 of their previous matchups while the visitors have won just five times. There have been 11 draws between the two teams.
- The hosts have won their last three games in this fixture and have lost just one of their last 19.
- The visitors are without a clean sheet in their last nine games in this fixture.
- Only one of Club Brugge's seven regular season defeats last season came on home turf.
- Mechelen lost 12 away league games last season, the joint-highest in the Pro League alongside Seraing.
Club Brugge vs Mechelen Prediction
Club Brugge have alternated wins and losses over their last 10 games and will be hoping for consistency in the new campaign. They have won six of their last eight competitive games on home turf and will fancy their chances ahead of Sunday's game.
Mechelen's latest result ended a three-game winning streak and they will now be looking to bounce back here. However, they have a poor record in this fixture and could lose this one.
Prediction: Club Brugge 3-0 Mechelen
Club Brugge vs Mechelen Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Club Brugge to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Eight of the last nine matches between the two teams have produced more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just one of their last five matchups)
