Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Breidablik prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-09-20 19:00.
This is the third straight season in which Maccabi Tel Aviv have competed in the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL), with varying degrees of success so far. This time they successfully navigated three ties to get to the group stage after failing to do so in 2022/23, meeting the board’s reported minimum requirement of getting through qualifying. The Yellows have been formidable at home in this competition, having won ten of their 13 games at Bloomfield Stadium and losing just once.
Since Robbie Keane was appointed manager this summer, Maccabi haven’t tasted defeat in any competition (W8, D3) and currently sit top of the Israeli Premier League. Their matches have been richly entertaining as well, featuring an average of 3.45 total goals across those 11 games. To add to the positive omens, the capital club have won all four previous meetings with Icelandic opponents, although their most recent such tie was six seasons ago.
Thursday’s opponents Breiðablik will be eagerly hoping to end that winning streak and in doing so record a memorable victory to open their European group stage debut. The Scandinavian side, based in the town of Kópvagur, have already had an eventful journey to get to this stage, having been eliminated from the qualifying rounds of both the Champions League and Europa League.
Despite those disappointments, reaching the group phase of the third-tier UECL still represents a major achievement for Breiðablik. Like their upcoming hosts, they too have impressed in front of goal recently, scoring in all but one of their ten European matches in 2023/24 – a journey that began on 27 June! That said, their hopes of defending their Icelandic title are over, as they have lost their last three games in the Besta deild karla.
Players to watch: Summer signing Felício Milson has four goal involvements in his last four games for Maccabi (G2, A2), with all those contributions coming in the 45th minute or later. Meanwhile, Breiðablik’s Ágúst Hlynsson has netted three of his side’s last seven goals, with each of the 23-year-old’s efforts coming on the half-hour mark or later.
Hot stat: Three of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s last six competitive matches saw their opponents on the day collect a red card.