Standard Liege vs Cercle Brugge Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Despite scoring three against Gent on the opening day, Liege were unable to find the net against a defensively week Waasland side last time out, so they’ll now be looking to bounce back when welcoming Cercle Brugge to Stade Maurice Dufrasne on Saturday evening.

St. Liege’s performance last Friday away at Waasland wasn’t great, though they still should’ve come out on top. Michel Preud’homme’s men were dominant, especially during the first period, while they got into enough promising positions to get the ball in the back of the net. Drawing 0-0 against a team who will no doubt concede lots of goals this season isn’t ideal, though too much shouldn’t be read into that result. Liege remain a strong side.

After the disappointment at Freethiel Stadion, Liege resumed scoring ways when they drew 2-2 with Ajax in Champions League qualifying at this venue on Tuesday night. Defensively they did struggle to keep a decent Ajax team at bay, though they certainly made their presence felt going forward. A repeat of those attacking antics against this Cercle Brugge team, who’re nowhere near as good as Ajax, would likely see the hosts regain the winning thread.

Having returned to the top flight this season, it’s fair to say that Cercle Brugge have made a pleasing start, though it’s still early days. A 0-0 draw was a solid start, while they got the better of Lokeren by three goals to two last Saturday. From an offensive point of view, they did well on that occasion, though that match highlighted clear defensive deficiencies, deficiencies that could easily be taken advantage of by a Liege team who really are no mugs going forward.

Not only have Liege looked good offensively at the start of this season, scoring multiple goals against Gent and Ajax at Stade Maurice Dufrasne, but they thrived in attack against the lesser teams on their own patch during the last regular campaign. Last season, Liege scored at least twice in seven of their ten home games against teams who finished outside of the top six, while they scored at least three goals in six of those seven. Such form bodes well ahead of a match against a Cercle Brugge team who struggled to contain a Lokeren side who’re far weaker than Liege last time out.

After their win last weekend, the visitors may be feeling confident and they may even make their presence felt, but the way in which they defended last time out suggest that they’ll struggle massively against a Liege side who’ve got lots of quality in the final third. At the prices, a punt on ‘St. Liege to Score Over 2.5 Goals’, a bet which yielded a profit in 60% of their home games against the weaker teams last season, gets the nod.