Cercle Brugge vs Kilmarnock

Jan Breydel Stadium sets the stage for the return leg of an evenly-poised Europa League qualifying tie between Cercle Brugge and Kilmarnock.

Cercle Brugge defied expectations last season to register a fourth-place finish in the Belgian Pro League and secure a place in Europa League qualifying for the first time since 2010/11. ‘Groen en Zwart’ did move out of this stage over a decade ago, and following an evenly-contested 1-1 draw in Scotland, they return to Jan Breydel confident of replicating that feat. Though Cercle Brugge’s European experience is relatively insignificant, they have been impressive on home soil, picking up three victories in four continental games as hosts (L1), with all four results (wins/losses) featuring a single-goal margin. Perhaps preoccupied with their continental commitments, Miron Muslic’s side got the new Pro League season off to a dismal start, losing 3-0 at last year’s strugglers Westerlo over the weekend.

In the meantime, Kilmarnock also finished fourth in the Scottish Premiership last term to appear in Europa League qualifying for the first time since 2019/20. They failed to advance to round two five years ago, but they’ll fancy their chances in Belgium following a decent first-leg performance. Before being held to a stalemate last week, Killie had boasted a 100% win ratio across four previous European matches against Belgian clubs (W4), netting a whopping 11 goals in those victories. While that’s a promising sign for Derek McInnes’ side, their recent travel sickness raises a red flag, with Kilmarnock delivering a mixed bag of performance across their last three competitive road trips (W1, D1, L1).