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Jagiellonia will host Cercle Brugge at Białystok City Stadium on Thursday in the first leg of the round of 16 of the 2024-25 UEFA Europa Conference League campaign. Both sides will be keen to start the two-legged tie on the front foot.
Jaga defeated TSC 6-2 on aggregate in the playoff rounds after narrowly missing out on direct qualification from the league phase on goal difference. The hosts, who are currently sat in third place in the Polish Ekstraklasa, have only lost two games since the start of the year and will be looking to continue their solid form as they return to European competition.
Cercle Brugge picked up points against St Gallen, Hearts, Olimpija, Istanbul Basaksehir and LASK to finish the league phase in eighth place, narrowly edging Thursday's hosts on goal difference to qualify directly for the knockout rounds. The Belgian side have struggled in recent weeks, going winless in their last six league games and will hope to turn things around elsewhere on Thursday.
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Jagiellonia vs Cercle Brugge Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Thursday will mark the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
- Jagiellonia have faced Belgian sides twice in their history and have lost both games.
- Cercle Brugge's only previous encounter with Polish opposition came back in August when they locked horns with Wisla Krakow in the Conference League qualifiers, winning the two-legged tie 7-5 on aggregate.
- The hosts finished the league phase of the Conference League with the joint-best defensive record (5) and have scored more goals (16) in the tournament than all but three teams.
- Only Chelsea (26) and Fiorentina (18) scored more than Cercle's 14 after six games in the Conference League.
- Jaga have the best offensive record in the Polish top flight this season with a goal tally of 44.
Jagiellonia vs Cercle Brugge Prediction
The two sides are closely matched going into the weekend but Jagiellonia will be looking to capitalize on their home advantage and much better form to get a comfortable edge ahead of the second leg.
Groen en Zwart will need to dig deep and improve on their recent underwhelming performances if they are to get a result when they travel to Poland. They have, however, been poor on the road all season and could see defeat here.
Prediction: Jagiellonia 2-1 Cercle Brugge
Jagiellonia vs Cercle Brugge Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Jagiellonia to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Seven of the hosts' last eight games have featured more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: Yes (Both teams have gotten on the scoresheet in five of the visitors' last six matches)
