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Hapoel Be’er Sheva vs Maccabi Haifa

KO: (UK time)

Hopes of winning the Ligat Ha’al are now decidedly slim for The Camels. However, they’re a passionate bunch under Barda, and whilst a chance remains for them to do so, I expect them to give everything to make it happen. That means that they absolutely must beat Maccabi Haifa tonight. Anything other than that makes the title out of reach, in my opinion.

I think Hapoel Be’er Sheva both could and should do it though, even with their main stand having been closed by the Israeli FA for this contest. They often give Maccabi Haifa a rough ride nowadays, particularly because of their industry in midfield. It’s fair to say that the visitors have more match-winners, but when it comes to performing as a unit, Hapoel Be’er Sheva should not be underestimated, particularly at home, and especially when playing as underdogs (which they love).

There are no new absentees for the home team other than Hatuel. He’s had a fine campaign but hasn’t scored in ages so it’s not an issue, especially not with Suleymanov on the pitch. Hemed, Shechter, and Klimala are all pretty average strikers nowadays but with the Russian, Ansah, Paun etc. supporting, they should still get chances. They’re a good attacking side under Barda, Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

Defensively, no I don’t trust the home team. They have favoured brawn over brains, and their attacking style does leave them open sometimes. Nevertheless, with no real reason for Maccabi Haifa to try and win this match when a draw suits them just fine, I don’t have a real reason to doubt Hapoel Be’er Sheva’s chances. Again, they’re a very committed team with a lot of effectiveness, and they seldom let themselves down when hosting a top team.

Again, I have to believe that Maccabi Haifa are going to play for a draw here because it simply makes more sense than trying to win, and potentially losing en route to doing so. Besides, I think they’d fancy their chances of scoring on the break, especially with Atzili in ‘unplayable’ mode of late. Tchibtoa isn’t a natural finisher, and Pierrot is a bit too inconsistent, but both are real handfuls on counters so Maccabi Haifa have no reason to shoot themselves in the foot by attacking.

Of late though, I’ve not been convinced by them defensively. I’m not convinced that Bakhar knows his best back four. They’re conceding really regularly at the moment, and instead of having the luxury of excellent individuals in attack to win them matches, they’re needing those players just to stay in matches. They’ve not been punished by their opponents in their past few matches but this is a much harder challenge for them, and if they can’t keep their heads at the back against the likes of Hapoel Jerusalem and MS Ashdod, then they might just find this a very uncomfortable meeting.

For me, it’s worth backing the home win with draw no bet cover.

Verdict: Hapoel Be’er Sheva to win with draw no bet at 93/100.

Team news

Note

All of the information in this section is listed to the best of our knowledge, and we use local sources for as many areas as we can.

Danish Superligaen:

FC Midtjylland – Andersson, Selmani, and Sisto are doubts.
Silkeborg – Dahl, Engel, Felix, and Oggesen are absent.

English Premier League:

Leicester City Justin, Iheanacho, and Vestergaard are absent. Evans, Bertrand, and Pereira are doubts.
Everton – Townsend and Vinagre are absent. Coleman is a doubt.

Israeli Ligat Ha’al:

Hapoel Be’er Sheva – Main stand closed by Israeli FA. Solomon, Elias, Hatuel, Martins, and Abu-Abeid are absent.
Maccabi Haifa – Menahem and Rukavytsya are absent. Haziza returns.

Italian Serie B:

Como – No news.
Palermo – Elia, Stulac, and Di Mariano are absent.
Ascoli – Tavcar and Ciciretti are absent.
Pisa – Toure, Caracciolo, Nagy, and Sibilli are absent.
Bari – Maiello, Folorunsho, and Vicari are absent.
Cittadella – No news.
Benevento – No news.
Parma – No absentees.
Brescia – No news.
Cosenza – Matosevic, Corsi, Kongolo, Gozzi, Sidibe, Zarate, Florenzi, and Marras are absent.
Sudtirol – No news.
Genoa – No news.
Venezia – Maenpaa, Jajalo, and Beghetto are absent.
Modena – No news.
Frosinone – Mulattieri is absent.
Reggina –  Gagliolo and Pierozzi are absent.

Norwegian Eliteserien:

Valerenga Oslo – Borchgrevink is absent. Strandberg is a doubt.
Lillestrom SK – Edh, Lundemo, Roseth, Solberg, and Vindheim are doubts.

Spanish Primera Liga:

Real Mallorca – Gonzalez and Luna are absent. Augustinsson and Nastasic are doubts.
Athletic Club – Morcillo, Muniain, and Sancet are absent. Lekue is a doubt.
Sevilla – Jordan, Marcao, and Nianzou are absent. Corona and Navas are doubts.
Girona – A. Garcia, B. Garcia, Kebe, A. Martinez, Roca, and Villa aer absent. Herrera and D. Lopez are doubts.

Swedish Allsvenskan:

IFK Goteborg Trondsen, Salaou are absent. Svensson, Dahlberg, Abdullahi, and Carneil are doubts.
IFK Norrkoping – de Brito, Ssewankambo, and Lund are absent. Vito, Skulason, Eid, and Shabani are doubts.

Turkish Super Lig:

Istanbulspor – Yesil is absent.
Giresunspor – Arias is a doubt. Mejia, Bilazer, Savicevic, Senghor, and Perez are absent.

Remaining thoughts

Note

The "remaining thoughts" section is there to be a rough guide in case you want to get involved in games we haven't tipped. It is not there to tell anybody to back specific scorelines, or to guarantee that "2-2" games will go over 2.5 goals, for example. Ian lists what he believes to be the most likely outcome, and this is based on his assessment as to which way each game will develop. However, a "remaining thoughts" game listed with a 2-2 scoreline may have only just edged out a 0-0 scoreline in terms of probability because each game can develop in different ways.

Croatian Prva Liga:

Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Gorica (5) 1-1
Slaven Koprivnica vs Rijeka (5) 2-1

Danish Superligaen:

FC Midtjylland vs Silkeborg (6) 2-1

English Premier League:

Leicester City vs Everton (5) 1-1

Hungarian Liga 1:

Ujpest vs Ferencvaros (6) 0-1, at least one red card in this game

Israeli Ligat Ha’al:

Hapoel Be’er Sheva vs Maccabi Haifa (5) over 2.5 goals

Italian Serie B:

Como vs Palermo (5) 1-1
Ascoli vs Pisa (5) 0-1
Bari vs Cittadella (5) 2-1
Benevento vs Parma (6) 1-1
Brescia vs Cosenza (5) 2-1
Sudtirol vs Genoa (6) 0-1
Venezia vs Modena (5) 0-0
Frosinone vs Reggina (4) 1-1

Norwegian Eliteserien:

Valerenga Oslo vs Lillestrom SK (5) 2-1, at least one red card in this game

Spanish Primera Liga:

Real Mallorca vs Athletic Club (5) 0-1
Sevilla vs Girona (6) 2-1

Swedish Allsvenskan:

IFK Goteborg vs IFK Norrkoping (4) 1-2

Turkish Super Lig:

Istanbulspor vs Giresunspor (5) 2-1

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