Club Brugge out to best Newcastle

Newcastle United FC will look to prolong their exceptional home record in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League as Club Brugge KV bid to end a long-standing English jinx.

Previous meetings
• This Group D fixture is the sides' first meeting in UEFA competition.

• Newcastle's record in six games against Belgian teams is an unequivocal W6 D0 L0 (W3 D0 L0 at home – W3 D0 L0 away). However, while they scored 14 goals in the first three of those matches, they have registered a relatively modest five in the most recent three.

• Club Brugge's 18 fixtures against English clubs have ended W6 D3 L9 (W6 D1 L1 at home - W0 D2 L8 in England). Those results include defeats by Liverpool FC in the finals of the 1976 UEFA Cup and 1978 European Champion Clubs' Cup.

Match background
• Newcastle are unbeaten in four European games this season and have not lost in nine continental home matches (two draws followed by seven straight victories) since going down 2-1 to RC Deportivo La Coruña in the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-finals.

• The last side to beat Newcastle at home in this competition was AS Monaco FC in the 1996/97 quarter-finals. They are now unbeaten in 23 UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League home games (W18 D5).

• Club Brugge lost 4-0 at FC Girondins de Bordeaux in their first Group D away game, but started this season's UEFA Europa League campaign with a 3-0 play-off victory at Debreceni VSC.

Team facts
• The next goal Newcastle concede will be the 100th they have let in in UEFA club competition - this is their 101st European game.

• Club Atlético de Madrid, S.S. Lazio, FC Metalist Kharkiv, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Newcastle are the only five sides who have yet to concede in this season's group stage.

• Newcastle defender Danny Simpson played on loan in Belgium with Royal Antwerp FC, while striker Demba Ba spent a season with R. Excelsior Mouscron. Midfielder Cheick Tioté was at RSC Anderlecht from 2005-08, though he spent his final campaign with the club out on loan at Roda JC.

• Club Brugge midfielder Jonathan Blondel (Tottenham Hotspur FC) and defenders Carl Hoefkens (Stoke City FC, West Bromwich Albion FC) and Ryan Donk (West Bromwich Albion FC) have all played in England.

• Club Brugge forward Mohamed Tchite played with Newcastle's Xisco at Real Racing Club in 2009/10.

• Donk featured for AZ Alkmaar as they won 2-0 at home to eliminate Newcastle on away goals in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup round of 32.

• Bart Buysse has also faced Newcastle before, with the Club Brugge defender's SV Zulte Waregem side losing 1-0 at St James's Park in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup round of 32.

• Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was the 2011/12 Premier League manager of the year, having established himself at Reading FC, West Ham United FC, Charlton Athletic FC and Southampton FC prior to a move to Tyneside in 2010. A glazier and taxi driver while playing non-league football, the midfielder was in his mid-20s when he became a professional, playing for Crystal Palace FC and Charlton among others.

• Twice coach of Belgium, Club Brugge boss Georges Leekens represented the Bruges side as a defender from 1972-81, winning five titles. He then scooped a sixth crown – and indeed a second Belgian Cup – as the club's coach in the early 1990s. Leekens has coached most of Belgium's top clubs, as well as Trabzonspor AŞ in Turkey and Roda JC in the Netherlands.

• This is FARE Action Week, with UEFA giving its support to Europe's biggest anti-discrimination campaign. There are activities before each UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League game, which will be witnessed by thousands of fans in the stadiums and millions on television. A 30-second RESPECT TV spot and announcements over stadium loudspeakers will encourage fans to join the UEFA family in its call to unite against racism in football. Every team will be accompanied on to the pitch by children wearing Unite Against Racism T-shirts and captains will be asked to wear a Unite Against Racism armband.