Maccabi Haifa vs Panathinaikos prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-10-04 19:00.
Maccabi Haifa know they can ill-afford another defeat as they continue their quest to reach the knock-out stages of a European competition for the first time since 2006/07. The Israeli club were hammered 3-0 by Rennes in their opening UEFA Europa League (UEL) group game, leaving them bottom of Group F after the first round of fixtures.
The good news for the Greens is they are in good form at home, going unbeaten in a dozen fixtures across all competitions (W10, D2). That form extends to this competition too, with Dutch side AZ Alkmaar the only away team to register a UEL victory at the Sammy Ofer Stadium since 2011 (W8, D2, L1).
Attempting to end that record will be Panathinaikos, who surprisingly defeated Villarreal 2-0 in their opening UEL game last month. Remarkably, that ended an 11-year wait for the Greek club to win a European group fixture, and the class of 2023/24 now have the chance to make a little bit more history, as they attempt to pick up victories in their opening two games at this stage of the UEL for the first time since 2007/08.
Forward Bernard certainly believes they can pick up another success, bravely predicting Ivan Jovanović’s side will “achieve good things in the UEL” this season. However, Panathinaikos have every right to be confident given they have only lost three of their last 14 matches on the road (W9, D2), and another victory here would be a big step towards reaching the knock-out stages of a European competition for the first time since 2009/10.
Key battle: Maccabi Haifa striker Frantzdy Pierrot is on a remarkable run of going unbeaten in the last 42 matches in which he has netted (W36, D6). Looking to out-score him will be the aforementioned Bernard, who has scored first or last in eight of his last nine goalscoring appearances.
Hot stat: There have been 3+ goals in five of Panathinaikos’ six competitive away games this season.