Molde welcome Club Brugge to Aker Stadion for the first leg of their Europa Conference League round of 16 tie. The Norwegians are generally solid at home and with Brugge looking sharp on their travels in the competition, both teams could be set to cancel each other out.
After dropping from the Europa League, Qarabag did the double over Legia Warsaw in the playoffs to book their place in the round of 16 of the Conference League. They earned a 3-2 win at home before travelling to Poland for a 3-0 victory in the second leg.
The Norwegians have been in fine form lately, suffering just one defeat in their last six matches across all competitions. They claimed four wins in that run but were held to a 1-1 home draw by Rosenborg in a friendly fixture last weekend.
Molde also boast a solid record at Aker Stadion, where they are unbeaten in their last seven matches across all competitions. Erling Moe’s men have picked up four wins in that run while the other three have ended in draws.
It has been a superb Conference League campaign for Club Brugge, who finished the group stage without tasting defeat. After beginning their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Besiktas, they went on to win their remaining five matches to qualify as group winners.
Things have been a bit erratic for Club Brugge since qualifying for the round of 16 of the Conference League. Ronny Deila’s men have picked up just three wins from their last six matches across all competitions.
The good news for Club Brugge is that they head into Thursday’s clash off the back of a 3-0 victory at Genk in a domestic fixture. They have also impressed on their travels in the Conference League, winning their last five away matches in the competition.
How the bookies view it
The bookies appear to be expecting a closely fought encounter with a win for Molde priced at 9/5 by bet365 while 10bet is offering 13/8 for a Club Brugge victory. A draw is set at odds of 12/5 by William Hill.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between Qarabag and Club Brugge.
Players to watch
Fredrik Gulbrandsen is often the man tasked with providing the spark in attack for Molde and could be worth keeping an eye on. The forward netted four times across two legs against Legia Warsaw and is priced at 3/1 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Igor Thiago has caught the eye for Club Brugge this season and will be the one to watch on Thursday. The Brazilian forward has four goals in his last three Conference League matches and is priced at 21/10 by BetVictor to find the net once again.
Anything else catch the eye?
Molde and Club Brugge have quality in attack and both teams could be backed to score at 8/11 with William Hill. The Belgians saw over 3.5 goals in their last Conference League fixture and a repeat is priced at 12/5 by bet365, who is also offering odds of 19/20 for over 2.5 goals.
Club Brugge have seen more goals after the break in their last four matches and a similar pattern is priced at 21/20 by William Hill.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Molde and Club Brugge will be played on Mar 7, 2024 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Molde vs Club Brugge prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
