Maccabi Haifa vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva
FreeWe’re always looking for new recruits to help us so please click here if you want to find out more about the ways you can help us (e.g. local input, watching games)!
Our in-play service continues to make profit so click here if you are interested in a free trial!
There are 11 bankers and 14 value tips in the Members Section today so feel free to sign up here to see them + team news!
Today’s free tip is in the Israeli Ligat Ha’al encounter between Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
I’m curious to see what develops here. Of late, Hapoel Be’er Sheva have made some strange formation changes that haven’t worked out well for them and Maccabi Haifa have done their usual trick of signing players that are too good for the club so I wonder if a “shock” might be on the cards here? Well, I don’t know how much of a shock it would be considered to be if the big green machine of Israeli football won at home, really – they should win most of their games, based on the quality within their squad. However, as any Ligat Ha’al follower will tell you, few teams disappoint more than Maccabi Haifa and that’s always a possibility today.
Individually, I think that Maccabi Haifa can give the reigning champions a run for their money. Collectively, Hapoel Be’er Sheva are better and more consistent, which is why they’ve now won back-to-back titles and why Maccabi Haifa’s last good season was when they had Katan, Rafaelov, Hemed, Dvalishvili, and Culma in their squad! That’s what makes this game so interesting – you never know which one of the above is going to be the deciding factor.
Let’s look at Maccabi Haifa firstly. They’ve recently acquired big Greek striker Athanasiadis but he won’t play today. He should do well at this level, though – he was always very consistent in the Greek Super League and the difference between the two leagues is minimal, both in terms of style and quality. They’ve also signed big defender Gershon from AA Gent to help them defend better, which should be handy. Still, their more impressive signings are in attack, as ever. They’ve signed pacey Bulgarian forward Kostadinov from Levski Sofia, Israeli forward Mizrahi from Lugano, and Brazilian attacker Caio from Grasshopper Zurich. That basically gives them lots of options in the final third. Caio is a particularly gifted footballer – he can make things happen from anywhere. Whether they can keep him in shape or not is another matter, though. Mizrahi is a good finisher, and Kostadinov will be a threat on the break.
Those players haven’t just joined a team of idiots, either. Damari is still on Maccabi Haifa’s books and he’s one of the better poachers in the Ligat Ha’al right now. Rukavytsya is still there and he’s a naturally gifted dribbler with excellent acceleration. I’m not a huge fan of his finishing but he’s taken to Israeli football like a duck to water since leaving Western Sydney Wanderers and that’s led to him scoring goals so don’t doubt him. They’ve still got Vermouth in midfield, who…well, let’s just say that he has his moments of brilliance. Often he’ll go AWOL but he’s got good pedigree – if he chooses to use it. Kehat bags a lot of goals from midfield, and both Allyson (another new signing) and Alberman bring experience to their midfield too. Defensively, they still look short to me. Gershon and Keinan are decent but that’s it; good teams will get around them, particularly when Maccabi Haifa are in their “lazy” mode. Nonetheless, this is a Maccabi Haifa team that could and should score goals.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva, for whatever reason, do not enjoy trips to the Sammy Ofer – ever. It’s weird, really. I’ve watched lots of their trips to Haifa and each time they’re either unlucky, out of character, or robbed by officials. I’m not superstitious enough to believe in curses and stuff like that but if I were to believe in such then I’d label this game as a “cursed” fixture for Hapoel Be’er Sheva. Although I do recognise that they’re more likely to nick this one than their hosts, I certainly would not be tempted to back the away win here.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva really need to pick themselves up after their disappointing defeat to Maribor mid-week. They started that game too slowly because of their formation and selection. That allowed Maribor to score, giving them the lead on away goals, and no matter how much Hapoel Be’er Sheva dominated the rest of the game, they still couldn’t find a way through. Indeed, they only really threatened late on and even forced a world-class save from veteran goalkeeper Handanovic. Hapoel Be’er Sheva only have themselves to blame for their UEFA Champions League exit, though – they were the better side of that tie but they gave away a cheap goal in the first leg and got too many things wrong elsewhere. Still, they’ve got the UEFA Europa League coming up and they’re in a challenging group so there’s no time to mope.
Happily, Hapoel Be’er Sheva are generally a positive team. They are seldom short of confidence nor team spirit, which is why it’s so hard to overcome them. They seem hell-bent on trying to make things easier for their opponents this season with a series of bizarre goals conceded, and with key defender Vitor out with a long-term injury, things are not likely to improve in the near future despite the arrival of Elhamed. This defence taking on a varied and dangerous Maccabi Haifa attack makes me think that the hosts will score at least once today.
Having said that, Hapoel Be’er Sheva have a very good attack. I thought that Pekhart applied himself really well of late, winning plenty of headers in the box etc. – he just needs better service before he starts scoring lots of goals. Cuenca will play a large part on the assists front but they need to get him fully fit first – I’m not sure if he’ll feature in Haifa or not. Talismanic forward Barda is back from injury, which is always a boost for today’s visitors as he inspires them when they need him the most. Winger Nwakaeme is looking better than ever – defenders just bounce off him nowadays – and although his delivery needs to improve, his general play is superb and it’s not a surprise that boss Barak has started to make him the focal point of Hapoel Be’er Sheva’s attacks. Melikson is a classy midfielder that can make something happen from nothing, too – they have plenty of options, the visitors. Interestingly enough, the one that impresses me the most is youngster Ohana. I’ve seldom seen such composure on the ball at this level because the Ligat Ha’al is a rather frantic league, to be fair – somewhat akin to the Turkish Super Lig – but he can control the ball well, roll players easily, and has a great sense of awareness. I think he’s going to have an excellent campaign because he’s got what it takes to be a very good player, in my view.
As far as today goes, it’ll be tough on Hapoel Be’er Sheva’s legs to take on Maccabi Haifa in their own backyard after a trip to Slovenia. They’ve got the spirit and quality to make it a good visit but I don’t trust them to manage that just yet. The timing of the fixture suits Maccabi Haifa far more but having said that, they embarrassed themselves at Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv last week so I don’t trust them to win it either. However, based on what I have seen from both teams, I think it’s likely enough that they’ll both score in this game, whichever way it goes.
Verdict: Both teams to score at 9/10.
Sunday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Argentinian Superliga:
San Martin de San Juan vs Patronato
Atletico Tucuman vs Godoy Cruz de Mendoza
San Lorenzo de Almagro vs Racing Club Avellaneda
Boca Juniors vs Club Olimpo
Temperley vs River Plate
Austrian Bundesliga:
Sturm Graz vs Salzburg
SCR Altach vs SV Mattersburg
Admira Wacker vs Austria Vienna
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Club Brugge vs Standard de Liege
AA Gent vs RSC Anderlecht
KV Oostende vs Antwerp
Brazilian Serie A:
Flamengo vs Atletico Paranaense
Palmeiras vs Sao Paulo
Bahia vs Botafogo
Ponte Preta vs Atletico Mineiro
Cruzeiro vs Santos
Avai vs Chapecoense
Bulgarian A PFG:
Cherno More Varna vs Septemvri Sofia
Ludogorets Razgrad vs Pirin Blagoevgrad
Croatian Prva Liga:
Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Dinamo Zagreb
Cibalia Vinkovci vs NK Osijek
Hajduk Split vs Istra 1961
Czech Republic Synot Liga:
Baumit Jablonec vs Zlin
Slavia Prague vs Mlada Boleslav
Teplice vs Vysocina Jihlava
Viktoria Plzen vs Banik Ostrava
Danish Superligaen:
FC Midtjylland vs Lyngby
Brondby vs AC Horsens
FC Nordsjaelland vs FC Copenhagen
English Premier League:
Chelsea vs Everton
West Bromwich Albion vs Stoke City
Liverpool vs Arsenal
Tottenham Hotspur vs Burnley
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
HJK Helsinki vs KuPS Kuopio
IFK Mariehamn vs VPS Vaasa
Finnish Ykkonen:
GRIFK vs OPS Oulu
French Ligue 1:
En Avant Guingamp vs Strasbourg
Angers SCO vs Lille OSC
AS Monaco vs Olympique de Marseille
German Bundesliga:
RB Leipzig vs SC Freiburg
Hannover 96 vs Schalke 04
Hungarian OTP Bank Liga:
Fehervar vs Ferencvaros
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
UMF Grindavik vs KR Reykjavik
KA Akureyri vs Vikingur Olafsvik
Fjolnir Reykjavik vs Vikingur Reykjavik
Breidablik Kopavogur vs IA Akranes
Stjarnan Gardabaer vs FH Hafnarfjordur
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Maccabi Haifa vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva
Italian Serie A:
Torino vs Sassuolo
Chievo Verona vs SS Lazio
Crotone vs Hellas Verona
AC Fiorentina vs Sampdoria
AC Milan vs Cagliari
SSC Napoli vs Atalanta Bergamo
SPAL vs Udinese
Lithuanian Cup:
Jonava vs Stumbras
Suduva Marijampole vs Trakai
Dutch Eredivisie:
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs Willem II
VVV Venlo vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam
PSV Eindhoven vs Roda JC Kerkrade
Groningen vs FC Utrecht
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Boavista vs Desportivo Aves
Sporting Clube de Portugal vs Estoril
Sporting Braga vs FC Porto
Portuguese Segunda Liga:
Academico Viseu vs SL Benfica II
Sporting Covilha vs CD Nacional de Madeira
Famalicao vs UD Oliveirense
FC Porto II vs Santa Clara
Real vs Arouca
Sporting Braga II vs Leixoes Matosinhos
Uniao Madeira vs Sporting Clube de Portugal II
Cova Piedade vs Vitoria Guimaraes II
Varzim vs Penafiel
Russian Premier League:
SKA Khabarovsk vs Spartak Moscow
CSKA Moscow vs Akhmat Grozny
Zenit St.Petersburg vs FK Rostov
FK Krasnodar vs Dinamo Moscow
Spanish Primera Liga:
RCD Espanyol vs Leganes
Eibar vs Athletic Club de Bilbao
Getafe vs Sevilla CF
Real Madrid vs Valencia CF
Swedish Allsvenskan:
IFK Norrkoping vs Ostersunds FK
BK Hacken Goteborg vs Jonkopings Sodra
Kalmar FF vs Sirius
AIK Solna vs Djurgarden
GIF Sundsvall vs Orebro
Elfsborg Boras vs Halmstad
Malmo FF vs IFK Goteborg
Swiss Super League:
Luzern vs FC Zurich
Sion vs FC Basel
St.Gallen vs Young Boys Bern
Swiss Challenge League:
FC Schaffhausen vs Vaduz
Turkish Super Lig:
Istanbul BB vs Konyaspor
Akhisar Belediye vs Kasimpasa
Genclerbirligi vs Fenerbahce
Enjoy your free betting tips!