Europa League Prediction Hapoel Haifa vs Atalanta
Hapoel Haifa has qualified for this edition of the Europa League after finishing the last edition of the Israeli championship in the 4th position, to dispute the playoff of qualification for the champion. Still, it was well below the winner, Hapoel Be’er Sheva, who finished with 80 points, against 62 of the Haifa team. Between the champion and this set still remained Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem.
This European adventure, by the way the first in club history, began in the second qualifying round, the previous one, with the Israelis knocking out FH, who finished 3rd in the last Icelandic league with a 1-1 home draw, 1 and a 1-0 away win.
However, Hapoel Haifa have also started the domestic season with the Israeli Super Cup’s surprising victory against defending champion Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the penalty shoot-outs after a 1-1 draw at the end of regular time.
The team is totally focused on this tie with Atalanta, as the championship only starts on the weekend of 24, 25 and 26 of this month.
The Italians of Atalanta want to return to play the final phase of the Europa League, where they fell in the first phase to eliminate in 2017/18 at the feet of Borussia Dortmund.
In the previous round, who entered the competition, they dispatched Saravejo with a 10-2 aggregate, after a 2-2 draw in Italy in the first leg, and a 8-0 second-leg Bosnia Herzegovina.
The preseason has gone well, the Atalanta still has not lost, although it is facing mostly manifestly inferior teams. In the theoretically more complicated pre-season encounter, she beat Hertha Berlin 3-2.
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It will not be easy for Hapoel Haifa to sustain the offensive quality of this Atalanta. It was clear in the last round that they are one of the teams with more virtues that are present in these pre-qualifiers and, after the home draw with Sarajevo in the first leg of the last round, I believe that Gasperini will make clear to his boys the importance of achieving an interesting result already in this first game, even because the second leg takes place in Italy days before Atalanta’s Serie A debut against Frosinone at home.
The quality gap is great, Hapoel Haifa have experienced some difficulties to eliminate FH, a team well below Atalanta and so I believe that the conditions for an Italian triumph, quite possibly to fulfill some handicaps, will be met.
Betting Tip: Atalanta
Odds: 1.32
