Club Brugge vs PAOK prediction 11.04.2024

• Competition: Europa Conference League, Quarter-Finals, 1st Leg
• Date: Thursday, 11th April 2024
• Kickoff: 20:00 UTC +1 / 21:00 CEST
• Venue: Jan Breydel Stadion (Brugge)

On Thursday evening, Club Brugge, an 18-time Belgium champ, will face off against PAOK, a three-time Greek league winner, in the first leg of the Europa Conference League Quarterfinals at Jan Breydel Stadion in Brugge.

Club Brugge were not on an expected level in the domestic competitions as they were eliminated from the Cup Semi-Finals and finished the regular phase of the Jupiler Pro League 4th with a 19-point deficit over the first-placed Royale Union SG. However, the rules for the Playoffs were favorable for them, and after changing the coach, they started playing well and closed the gap to only five points! So, they are very much alive, even though the situation looked disastrous only two rounds ago. On the other hand, Club Brugge have been good throughout the season in the ECL, and the bookies favor them over PAOK to secure the Semi-finals with the odds of 1.75, while the odds on the Greek team are between 2 and 2.2. 

PAOK are having a really good season so far, especially in the Europa Conference League, where they have won six of eight games (group and knockout phases combined). The White Blacks are doing well in the domestic league as well, considering they are at the top of the league with only six rounds left. However, with only a one-point advantage over the second-placed AEK, nothing is decided yet. The Thessaloniki team was also only seconds away from qualifying for the Greek Cup FInals, but a super late goal from PAO sent the game to a penalty shootout, where they eventually lost. 

Club Brugge vs PAOK pick: Over 2.5 goals

Club Brugge are coming to this game after a big home 3:1 win over Anderlecht, and their morale will surely be pretty high. Their offensive performances at Jan Breydel Stadion were excellent in recent matches, as they scored two or more goals in eight of the last ten matches, so we expect another strong performance. 

PAOK are in excellent form, winning ten points in the last four games and scoring 13 goals - 3.25 per game. 

In Europe, both teams mainly played high-scoring games throughout the season. PAOK were over 2.5 goals in 11 of 14 games (79%), while Club Brugge were 10 times over 2.5 goals in 14 games (71%)

Considering all the above, we firmly believe we will see at least three goals, most likely with both teams scoring.