On Thursday, Maccabi Haifa will face Gent in the first leg of a Europa Conference League playoff tie, which is set to take place in Budapest due to the current security situation in Israel.
Maccabi Haifa have dropped down from the Europa League, while Gent had to settle for second place in their Europa Conference League group.
Match preview
© Reuters
Maccabi Haifa have had to accept a place in the Europa Conference League knockout rounds after they finished seven points adrift of second-placed Rennes in their Europa League group.
The Israeli side won one, drew two and lost three of their six group matches to finish one point ahead of bottom-placed side Panathinaikos.
Although they have dropped down to UEFA's third-tier competition, Maccabi Haifa can be pleased with the fact that they are set to make their first appearance in a European knockout round since reaching the last 16 of the UEFA Cup in the 2006-07 season.
Messay Dego's side will head into Thursday's first leg off the back of consecutive 2-0 victories over Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem.
While they may have scored four goals in their last two matches, Maccabi Haifa have struggled to trouble the scorers in Europe after registering just three goals in their six Europa League group games.
© Reuters
Gent are competing in the playoff round after finishing two points behind one of Maccabi Haifa's domestic rivals, Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The Belgium side dropped just two points in their first five group games, but they ultimately dropped into second place following a 3-1 defeat to Maccabi Tel Aviv on the final matchday.
Despite missing out on top spot, Gent will still be hoping to produce a similar run to last season when they made their way to the quarter-finals before being eliminated by eventual winners West Ham United.
However, their hopes of continuing their European journey past the current round will be tempered by the fact that they have lost five of their last six competitive matches (D1).
As a result, Hein Vanhaezebrouck's side are still searching for their first competitive win since beating Kortrijk 2-0 on Boxing Day.
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
The hosts are expected to be without the services of Dolev Haziza, Sun Menahem and Eric Shuranov due to injury.
Defender Pierre Cornud will serve a one-match suspension after picking up three yellow cards during the group stage.
Dean David will be looking to continue his impressive form after scoring 16 goals in 35 competitive appearances this season.
As for the Belgian side, they have a number of injury concerns ahead of the first leg, with Paul Nardi, Andrew Hjulsager, Sven Kums and Jordan Torunarigha expected to miss out.
January addition Daisuke Yokota was not included in the squad for Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Cercle Brugge, and he remains a doubt for Thursday's first leg in Bulgaria.
Stefan Mitrovic is expected to retain his place in the backline after making two consecutive starts following his move from Getafe in the winter transfer window.
Maccabi Haifa possible starting lineup:
Kaiuf; Simic, Goldberg, Seck; Sundgren, Kinda, Mohamed, Refaelov, Saief; Khalaili, David
Gent possible starting lineup:
Schmidt; Kandouss, Mitrovic, Watanabe; Samoise, De Sart, Hong, Gerkens, Brown; Tissoudali, Depoitre
We say: Maccabi Haifa 2-2 Gent
Gent may be experiencing a poor spell of form, but after losing just one of their six group games, we think that they will do enough to hold Maccabi Haifa to a draw in Thursday's first leg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
