Maccabi Haifa vs Fiorentina prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-03-06 20:00.
After ending their 17-year wait to reach the last 16 of a European competition, Maccabi Haifa have their eyes on yet more history in the UEFA Europa Conference League. The Greens came through their knockout play-off by beating Gent 2-1 on aggregate and will now attempt to reach quarter-finals of a UEFA tournament for the first time this century.
Maccabi Haifa are certainly finding form at the right time after – by their standards – a mediocre start to the campaign, with a 1-0 victory over Hapoel Hadera in the league on Sunday meaning that they have now suffered just two defeats in their last 26 outings across all competitions (W18, D6). However, Messay Dego’s men have no home advantage in this tie, with the match being played on neutral territory in Hungary due to the ongoing conflict in Israel.
Looking to exploit that change of venue are last year’s beaten finalists Fiorentina, who qualified directly for the round of 16 by virtue of winning their group. Results have been below-par for the Italian outfit of late though, going five away games without a win (D2, L3), as well as tasting victory in just three of their 11 league and cup matches so far in 2024 (D3, L5).
The most recent of those fixtures was a 0-0 draw against Torino, when manager Vincenzo Italiano named an unchanged starting XI after 141 consecutive matches of selecting a different line-up from the game prior! He may be tempted into changes for this clash though, as La Viola’s failure to break down their opponents, who had a man sent off just before half-time, means that they have failed to score in six of their 11 outings during normal time since the turn of the year.
Players to watch: Maccabi Haifa striker Frantzdy Pierrot has never been on the losing side when scoring in a European encounter (W8, D1). Attempting to outgun him may be Fiorentina’s Lucas Beltrán, who has netted first or last in 11 of his last 13 goalscoring appearances.
Hot stat: Fiorentina have only scored two first-half goals in their last nine away games across all competitions.