Having claimed a comfortable victory in the first meeting, Maccabi Haifa will be looking to complete the double over Hamrun when both teams meet in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifying first round clash on Tuesday. The Israeli side were untroubled throughout last week’s clash and should be set for another comfortable victory.
Maccabi Haifa will already have one eye in the Champions League qualifying second round after claiming a 4-0 victory over Hamrun in last week’s first leg. They were comfortable throughout with Frantdzy Pierrot netting a brace while Dean David and Anan Khalaili were also on target.
Although Maccabi Haifa must complete the job in the second leg, manager Messay Dego will believe they are well on course to another group stage campaign in the Champions League. Despite crashing out in the group phase of last season’s competition, they had their moments, with a 2-0 victory over Italian giants Juventus the high point of the campaign.
After making a tricky first leg appear comfortable, Maccabi Haifa will return home feeling very confident. They have won six of their last seven matches across all competitions at the Sammy Ofer Stadium with a lot of the results extremely one-sided like the 5-0 victory over Hapoel Jerusalem.
Hamrun have an almost impossible task in Tuesday’s return fixture after suffering that humiliating defeat in last week’s first leg. It was a disappointing performance in front of their fans as they were constantly carved open at the back while being wasteful in attack.
The Maltese Premier League champions are making a return to Europe’s elite club competition for the first time since 1991, when they were hammered 10-0 on aggregate by Benfica. Tas Sikkina have barely made a dent in any European competition since, although they reached the playoffs of Last season’s Europa League, losing 7-4 on aggregate to Partizan Belgrade.
Beyond the result against Maccabi Haifa, Hamrun had been in good form in recent times as that was their first defeat in eight matches. Luciano Zauri’s men also travel to the Sammy Ofer Stadium with three wins and a draw in their last four away matches.
How the bookies view it
Maccabi Haifa are considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a home win priced at 2/11 by bet365. An unlikely victory for Hamrun is valued at 20/1 by Coral while a draw is set at odds of 7/1 by Unibet.
Head to head
Last week’s clash was the first ever meeting between Maccabi Haifa and Hamrun.
Players to watch
Dean David and Frantdzy Pierrot already showed their quality in the first leg, combining for three goals. They will be the ones to watch on Tuesday and can lead Maccabi Haifa to over 1.5 goals at 2/7 with William Hill.
Maccabi Haifa also showed their defensive solidity in the first meeting, with Abdoulaye Seck and Sean Goldberg featuring in the heart of the defence. Both men can ensure the hosts keep another clean sheet at 8/11 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
It was a win to nil for Maccabi Haifa in the first leg and a similar outcome can be considered at 5/6 with bet365. Having put four goals past Hamrun last week, a -1 handicap can also be considered at 21/10 with Paddy Power.
Maccabi Haifa won both halves in the first meeting and Tuesday’s clash can be set to follow a similar pattern at 6/5 with BoyleSports.
This UEFA Champions League match between Maccabi Haifa and Hamrun will be played on Jul 18, 2023 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Maccabi Haifa vs Hamrun prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
21/10 i can only see 4/11 for the -1??