Maccabi Tel Aviv will welcome Petroclub to Bloomfield Stadium for the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League qualification tie on Thursday, July 27th.
The hosts booked their spot to this stage of the qualifiers courtesy of their third-placed finish in the Israeli Ligat Ha'al last season, while Petroclub qualified as runners-up in the Moldovan Super Liga.
Maccabi Tel Aviv are coming into the game on the back of a comfortable 6-1 win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Toto Cup. Eran Zahevi was the star of the show as he weighed in with a hat-trick to guide his team to victory.
Petroclub, meanwhile, have not been in action since claiming a 3-0 home win over Sf.Gheorghe in their final league game in May. However, they did secure a 1-0 win over Zimbru Chisinau in a pre season friendly.
The team will turn their focus to the continent as they aim to qualify for the Conference League group stage. The winner of this tie will face either FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino or AEK Larnaca in the third round of the qualifiers.
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Petroclub head-to-head and key numbers
- This will be the first meeting between the two sides.
- Each of Maccabi Tel Aviv's last six competitive games have produced three goals or more.
- Six of Petroclub's last seven away games have seen one or both sides fail to find the back of the net.
- Five of Maccabi Tel Aviv's last six European qualification games have seen one side fail to find the back of the net.
- Petroclub have not made it to the group stage of a European club competition.
- There have been at least two goals scored in each of Maccabi Tel Aviv's last six competitive games.
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Petroclub prediction
Petroclub are relative minnows on this stage, having never made it to the group stage of a European club competition. Maccabi, for their part, are heavily favored to progress to the next round and a comfortable win in the first leg would give them a major edge.
We are backing the hosts to claim a convincing win in a high-scoring game.
Prediction: Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-0 Petroclub
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Petroclub betting tips
Tip 1 - Maccabi Tel Aviv predicted to win
Tip 2 - Both teams to score: No
Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 4 - First half to produce over 1.5 goals