Aston Villa should find useful midfield recoveries and send Jackson at Viking's back line. Viking still have a direct release through Christiansen and delivery from Tripic, so their attacks need not wait for long possession. Club Brugge and Lens have a more open exchange: each can turn the other's first pressure into space behind it. The timing of those releases should decide how often the forwards see the box.
Villa's Kamara can win the next ball and find Jackson or a wide runner, but Manzambi's far-post arrival from the Newcastle match is unavailable and the fullback group has changed. Viking reached the far side early against Brann and used Tripic's delivery and Christiansen's run against Bayern. Heggheim and Stensness played the last Viking match, preserving targets for that first supply. Villa can control much of the game, yet Viking have a route to keep the score close; I'm siding with Viking to stay within reach.
Brugge can move through Vanaken and Potts before Forbs runs beyond Lens's press toward Tresoldi. Lens can answer with Thauvin's service or a recovery against Brugge's advanced fullbacks. Lens's Ganiou is newly out after playing Troyes, while Brugge still have Forbs and a cleared Mechele after their Inter match; Ordóñez remains absent. Both teams have shown a way to create after conceding, so I'm siding with a high-scoring Club Brugge and Lens match.
