Club Brugge v Aston Villa: A Tactical Preview

Villa arrive in Belgium still waiting for their first league goal, but the trip to Brugge presents a very different tactical problem from Hull. Club Brugge want the ball, commit players forward and leave spaces that Hull spent Saturday protecting. For Unai Emery, that opens up choices: stick with the side that has restored control, or begin introducing the pace and carrying ability recruited to make that control more dangerous.

By Nico Valenti

The temptation after Hull is to concentrate on the finishing. Aston Villa produced 1.74 xG, missed three good chances and somehow turned 13 attempts into a single shot on target. Emiliano Buendía should have scored from George Hemmings’ cut-back and Nicolas Jackson had opportunities too. Better finishing probably wins the game. The more interesting question for Unai Emery is whether the side that produced all that possession is also the right one for Club Brugge. There is a strong case that it is not.

Hull were comfortable retreating into a 5-4-1 and letting Villa have 73.5 per cent of the ball. Brugge are unlikely to offer the same game. Ivan Leko’s side normally play from a 4-2-3-1, with Hans Vanaken central to their possession, Carlos Forbs providing speed from the right and Mamadou Diakhon offering another direct threat from the opposite side. Their recent defeat at Gent was instructive: Brugge had 62 per cent possession and completed 617 passes, but Gent had 13 shots to eight, 1.52 xG and eight shots on target. Brugge had plenty of the game without controlling its dangerous moments.

That should interest Emery after three matches in which Villa have spent much of their time trying to solve increasingly compact spaces. Brugge will give them some. The question is who he selects to attack them. Reports have Leon Goretzka as a fitness doubt, while Brian Madjo and Taylor Harwood-Bellis are not available for this competition.

The return of Gomes immediately changes the midfield calculation. Ross Barkley was useful at Hull and created three chances, but that game rewarded his patience on the ball. Brugge should offer more transition. Gomes gives Villa a midfielder who can attack the first few yards after possession changes and is more comfortable defending an open pitch if the move breaks down. Alongside Kamara, he also gives Emery licence to put more speed ahead of them.

That is where the team selection becomes interesting. Does he play McGinn, Buendía and Hemmings together again? All three have done enough to justify involvement. Hemmings was arguably Villa’s most disruptive attacker at Hull. McGinn remains enormously useful in European away games because he can move between winger, midfielder and defensive cover. Buendía finds spaces that the more direct attackers do not. Yet putting all three behind Jackson would leave Garnacho and Ibrahim Mbaye on the bench again, against an opponent whose recent performances suggest that running beyond their possession may be exactly where Villa can hurt them.

This feels like the first game in which Emery should seriously consider changing the balance.

Brugge can have the ball — Villa should attack what they leave behind

The Gent game provides a useful warning against confusing possession with control. Brugge completed more than 200 passes more than their opponents and had 23 touches in the Gent box, yet conceded 1.52 xG and needed Yann Sommer to make six saves. Gent repeatedly reached them once the first line of pressure had been broken.

The centre-back situation adds to the opportunity. Ordóñez is missing with a foot injury, leaving Brandon Mechele and Han-beom Lee as the expected pairing. Mechele brings experience and is comfortable defending the penalty area; Lee gives Brugge physical presence. Neither changes the fundamental problem created when their full-backs advance and the midfield gets played through. Gent produced nine of their 13 shots from inside the penalty area despite having only 38 per cent possession.

Jackson should enjoy that more than he enjoyed Hull. On Saturday he spent much of the afternoon surrounded by three centre-backs with almost no space behind them. In Belgium he should have opportunities to pull Mechele or Lee away from the centre and attack the channel outside them. That movement becomes considerably more threatening if somebody else is already running beyond the opposite centre-back.

Garnacho is the obvious candidate. Starting him on the left would give Villa a player whose first instinct after a regain is to attack the space ahead of him. Brugge right-back Kyriani Sabbe is adventurous and Forbs plays ahead of him. If both are caught forward, Garnacho could find the sort of grass that simply did not exist at Hull.

There is an argument for going further and giving Mbaye his first start on the opposite flank. That would produce an unusually quick Villa front three — Garnacho, Jackson, Mbaye — with Brugge required to defend the entire width of the pitch whenever possession turns over. For a side accustomed to pushing its full-backs forward and using Vanaken high between the lines, the threat could alter how aggressively they attack before Villa have even won the ball.

It may be too much change for Emery. Mbaye has only just arrived and was unused at Hull, while Hemmings has done very little to deserve being dropped. A more likely compromise is Garnacho on one side and Hemmings on the other, with McGinn moving centrally or beginning from the right depending on the defensive phase. Mbaye then becomes a powerful second-half option once Brugge’s full-backs have accumulated 60 or 70 minutes of forward running.

There is also a case for keeping Hemmings on the left and introducing Mbaye on the right. Hemmings’ ability to move inside could give Maatsen the outside lane, while Mbaye supplies natural width on the other flank. Villa looked too narrow at times against Hull because Buendía and McGinn both gravitated towards central positions. One winger who genuinely wants to stay outside would stretch Brugge’s midfield before the pass into Jackson is attempted.

Vanaken is the player Villa cannot lose

Villa’s attacking selection may be the more exciting question, but Hans Vanaken remains the player around whom the defensive plan should be built. He scored at Gent and remains unusually difficult to account for because he does not behave like a conventional No 10. At 1.95m he gives Brugge an aerial target around the box, but much of his value comes from when he arrives there. Against Gent, Forbs attacked down the right and crossed; Vanaken appeared centrally to finish. He also had two of Brugge’s eight shots and created another opportunity for Diakhon.

That is a good argument for restoring Gomes next to Kamara. Villa do not want one holding midfielder repeatedly leaving the centre to follow Vanaken. Kamara can protect the space in front of Lindelöf and Torres while Gomes engages higher and attacks loose possession. If Vanaken drops towards Brugge’s midfield, Villa can pass him between those two rather than allowing him to drag a centre-back forward.

Forbs creates the opposite problem. His speed encourages Brugge to release him early on the right, and he supplied Vanaken’s goal at Gent before being sent off later in the game. Assuming he starts tomorrow, Maatsen will have to decide how aggressively he can advance. That duel could influence Emery’s choice on Villa’s left. Garnacho ahead of Maatsen gives Villa enormous transition potential but also leaves two players whose instincts are to go forward. Hemmings has shown considerably more familiarity with Emery’s defensive movements.

Ruggeri therefore deserves consideration too. If Emery wants Garnacho high, starting Ruggeri behind him could create a more balanced left side. Ruggeri can hold a deeper position while Garnacho waits for the turnover, reducing the amount of defensive ground the winger has to cover. Maatsen with Hemmings gives Emery the reverse arrangement: the full-back becomes the aggressive runner while Hemmings connects the play inside.

That is the sort of choice this squad was built to give him.

The right side presents something similar. Cash is the likely starter and suits a game in which Villa expect opportunities to advance. Wan-Bissaka becomes a real option if Emery starts Mbaye. With the winger holding the width, Villa would have less need for the full-back to overlap, allowing Wan-Bissaka to remain alongside the centre-backs and protect against Diakhon when Brugge counter. The two positions should increasingly be selected together rather than independently.

Villa's centre-backs face a different test

Pau Torres is expected to return after Mings started at Hull, and this feels like the right game for it. Mings made sense against Oli McBurnie. Hull had a clear physical outlet and Villa needed somebody comfortable attacking the first aerial ball. Brugge's build-up presents a more positional problem. Nicolò Tresoldi can occupy the centre-backs, but much of the threat develops through Vanaken and the wide players moving around him.

Pau's passing also matters more here. Brugge are unlikely to leave Villa's centre-backs completely untouched in the way Hull often did. If their first line steps towards Suzuki and the two centre-backs, Pau can find the pass through or around it before the block settles. Villa completed 175 final-third passes at Hull because they could advance easily; tomorrow the value may come from reaching the front three with fewer passes.

Lindelöf has quietly become important alongside him. His experience and positioning suit a game where Villa may deliberately leave more space behind the midfield. The concern is what happens if both centre-backs are asked to defend large channels against Brugge's speed. Gent showed that Brugge can be exposed this way themselves, but Forbs and Diakhon are capable of returning the favour.

Emery therefore has a balance to find. Too many players behind the ball and Villa recreate the Arsenal performance, secure but disconnected from Jackson. Too many ahead of it and the Brighton problems return. The Kamara-Gomes pairing may be what allows him to take the risk. With those two protecting the centre, Villa can afford one aggressive full-back and two genuinely attacking wide players without every turnover becoming a sprint towards Suzuki. One full-back can advance while the other stays connected to Torres and Lindelöf, creating the three-player rest defence Villa lost so badly at Brighton.

It is a small structural change that could unlock a much more aggressive team.

This feels like a Garnacho game

Emery has reasons to remain patient. Hemmings has played well. Buendía should have scored at Hull and continues to find good pockets. McGinn's experience is valuable in a European away match. Villa have spent the last two games repairing the control that disappeared at Brighton. But tomorrow's opponent changes the calculation. Villa have spent three league games looking for space. Brugge may provide it voluntarily.

An option might be Suzuki; Cash, Lindelöf, Torres, Ruggeri; Kamara, Gomes; McGinn, Hemmings, Garnacho; Jackson, with enough flexibility for Hemmings and McGinn to exchange positions. Garnacho would stay high enough to threaten the space behind Sabbe, Ruggeri would give that side some protection and Cash could provide more of the width on the right. Mbaye would be the first attacking change, potentially replacing McGinn or Hemmings and shifting Villa towards a genuine front three.

There is a more adventurous version in which Mbaye starts immediately and Villa use Garnacho-Jackson-Mbaye. I suspect Emery will consider that a step too far this early, but it is the shape Brugge should eventually make tempting.

The important change is not the formation. It is the intention once Villa regain possession.

At Hull, 74 per cent of the ball became a test of how patiently Villa could dismantle a defence that did not want to move. Tuesday could ask the opposite question: how quickly can they attack before Brugge get back?