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Peter Green - July 29, 2019
Maccabi Haifa vs Strasbourg
Europa League Qualification
Date: Thursday, 1 August 2019
Kick-off at 18:00 UK / 19:00 CET
Venue: Sammy Ofer Stadium (Haifa).
Strasbourg staged a comeback in the previous leg of the tie against Maccabi Haifa, to post a 3-1 win in their favor at the end of ninety minutes.
The hosts broke the deadlock in the first half but failed to reply with anymore while the French outfit slotted three past their goalkeeper. They did not come close to creating any goal scoring opportunities either and finished the tie with just four attempts at goal, two of which were on target.
The team were also down to ten men in the dying stages of the opening half after Habashi was penalized by the referee with a straight red card.
The visitors, on the other hand, were all over the final third and registered twenty-two efforts at goal, eight of which worked the goalkeeper.
Although Maccabi Haifa have an all-important away goal under their belt, the squad look far from convincing to pull off an upset, especially with Strasbourg more than likely to add to their goals tally on Thursday.
The home side are currently on a two-match losing streak, with their latest defeat coming against Strasbourg in the opening leg.
Maccabi Haifa failed to come out on top in their last game on home soil as well and lost by a 1-0 scoreline to H. Beer Sheva in their previous tie.
Their recent run of form certainly suggests that they are not capable of taking down a Strasbourg side that has just one loss to their name in their last five trips on the road.
Considering that Maccabi Haifa have found the back of the net in four of their previous five games at this venue, expect them to get their names on the scoresheet along with the visitors this week.
However, given the two-goal cushion that they have, Strasbourg are the outright favorites to walk away with the win in this one.
