please log in to view this image Venue: Jan Breydel Stadium Date: Wednesday 10th December 2025 KO time: 20:00 GMT There can be no head-to-head record because these two teams have never faced each other in a competitive fixture. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Genuinely couldn't give less of a **** about this game. My focus is exclusively on Wolves. Need to rotate as much as possible, but at the same time, need to keep players sharp as possible in preparation for that Wolves game. If it were up to me, this would be my team: Kepa White (play for one half, then one of Josh Nichols/Brayden Clarke plays in the second half - I'm so serious). Saliba (if he's back fit, play for one half then bring on Timber for second half) Salmon (bring on Hincapie for second half) Lewis-Skelly Norgaard Merino Nwaneri Madueke Gyokeres Dowman No chance of this happening whatsoever, but it's what I'd do.
Calafiori might as well play the full 90mins now given he’s got a 10 day rest afterwards before the Everton game.
Yeah - feel the same way about this game... except for one thing... it is a chance to get back some confidence. On the flip side following up a loss against Villa with another loss would not be good. I am not really buying any claims of tiredness and if I hear it from managers or players I read it as a very bad sign - looking for excuses. I didn't see Villa players slowing down late in the match - and their other players have played just as many minutes as ours.
Brugge manager Nicky Hayen has been sacked ahead of the Arsenal game That's quite a big surprise as he was quite revered by the fans and, judging by the reaction online, their fanbase are not happy with that decision at all. Appears as if it'll be an interim manager in charge ahead of this one.
Saliba, Trossard and Rice will all be missing the Brugge game. Dowman (who is now injured for 'weeks' after the U21s match vs Man Utd) has been replaced in the registered players list for this phase of the CL by Gabriel Jesus.
Comical that we’re still top having played a game less. Win tomorrow, play a complete b team in the inter and kairat games and we’ll still probably finish top.
This was never really an important stage of the competition - honestly anything in the top 24 is good enough. We'd basically qualified before we started the first game. The extra game from finishing outside the top 8, does not matter as PSG showed last year. It's all about form in the latter part of the season when the knockout stage begins. We should probably have been playing back ups in many positions in every game in the CL group stage. The quality of the completion until later on is poor.
Dowman - you guessed it - got injured playing in a closed door match vs Man Utd. He has been withdrawn from the CL official squad which may indicate he will be out for some time. I read it is an ankle ligament injury and it will be at least 2 months out. Gabriel Jesus has been brought into the squad.
It only doesn't matter to French, German or Spanish teams because they can rest 90% of their first team in 90% of their league matches and still win them without breaking a sweat because their leagues are primarily filled with gash. As evidenced last year by PSG resting their entire XI before the second leg. We can't rest as much as teams in those leagues because we play in a competitive league and it would cost us in the league. We don't want games building up. Two more games to play? No thanks. But otherwise yes, as long as you're top 8 who cares where you really finish.
That would be the argument for the other way round. I agree the European league teams can rest players in their leagues so the CL teams can be strongest. For us it's different. We have a real league and need to focus on it and during the group stage we could easily play our second team and qualify through the group. The team in 24th has just 1 win in 6 games! The group stage is just a cash cow, it's not real competition for the bigger teams. As for the knockout stages, it is what it is. Huge advantage for the European league teams because English clubs have to compete week in week out. An English team would win the CL every year if it were a level playing field.
