Maccabi Haifa vs Olimpiakos Match Analysis and Prediction

Maccabi Haifa and Olympiakos have an encounter at Sammy Ofer Stadium on Wednesday as they will be looking to secure a spot in the Champions League.

The Israeli champions will be looking to edge closer towards a group stage appearance for the first time in over a decade, while Olympiakos last made it that far two years ago.

Maccabi Haifa had put their 10-year wait for the domestic title to an end by finishing four points clear of Maccabi Tel Aviv last year, before successfully defending their crown by an eight-point gap in May.

As a result, they earned another crack at the Champions League, but they have not reached the group stage since 2010, having lost in the first qualifying round to Kazakhstan’s Kairat last summer.

Following this week’s draw, a third round tie with Apollon Limassol awaits the winner of this encounter, but preparations for Maccabi’s continental campaign have not run smoothly.

Maccabi lost friendly with Mechelen and Vitesse Arnhem earlier this month, which followed a penalty shootout defeat in the Israeli Super Cup final on Saturday, when they were beaten by Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

Meanwhile, Olympiakos dominated their domestic rivals last season, cruising to the Greek Super League title by 19 points ahead of closest challengers PAOK.

After just a few weeks away, Pedro Martins’ side reconvened in late June, participating in a series of friendlies against Fortuna Dusseldorf, Slavia Prague and RB Salzburg.

Their most recent warm-up friendly match came against Aris last Monday, and after a 2-1 defeat, Martins was critical of his side’s defensive concentration.

If the Thrylos are to return to the Champions League proper, that aspect of their game must surely improve, and they will be doubly determined to qualify this time around after losing in the third round to Bulgaria’s Ludogorets last year.

Maccabi Haifa vs Olympiakos head to head

The two teams have previously met on just two occasions in the UEFA Champions League back in 2002, where Maccabi Haifa have claimed one victory while they have drawn once. Olympiakos have scored three goals and conceded six in the process. They meet for the third time in the same competition.

Maccabi Haifa 3-0 Olympaikos 24/09/02

Olympiakos 3-3 Maccabi Haifa 13/11/02

Maccabi Haifa latest home form

Maccabi Haifa have recently kept a mixed run of form at home, having lost two of their five most recent matches. They lost to Hapoel Be’er Sheva through penalties in their last home game in the Super Cup. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded four.

Maccabi Haifa 1-0 Bnei Sakhnin 16/04/22

Maccabi Haifa 2-0 Hapoel Haifa 19/04/22

Maccabi Haifa 1-3 Maccabi Tel Aviv 10/05/22

Maccabi Haifa 4-0 Maccabi Netanya 21/05/22

Maccabi Haifa 1-1(P) Hapoel Be’er Sheva 16/07/22

Maccabi Haifa latest away form

Maccabi Haifa have recently been on a poor run of form on the road, having lost each of their three most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Vitesse in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded also five.

Hapoel Be’er Sheva 1-0 Maccabi Haifa 07/05/22

Bnei Sakhnin 0-3 Maccabi Haifa 16/05/22

Hapoel Be’er Sheva (P)2-2 Maccabi Haifa 24/05/22

Mechelen 1-0 Maccabi Haifa 09/07/22

Vitesse 1-0 Maccabi Haifa 12/07/22

Olympiakos latest home form

Olympiakos have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat AZ 1-0 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded five.

Olympiakos 3-2 PAS Giannina 01/05/22

Olympiakos 1-2 Panathinaikos 11/05/22

Olympiakos 1-1 PAOK 14/05/22

Olympiakos 0-0 Cracovia 27/06/22

Olympiakos 1-0 AZ 09/07/22

Olympiakos latest away form

Olympiakos have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having lost each of their three most recent matches. They lost 2-1 to Aris Limassol in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded 10.

Fortuna Dusseldorf 1-2 Olympiakos 25/06/22

Slavia Prague 1-1 Olympiakos 29/06/22

Arminia Bielefeld 3-1 Olympiakos 01/07/22

Salzburg 3-1 Olympiakos 02/07/22

Aris 2-1 Olympiakos 11/07/22

Maccabi Haifa news

Maccabi Haifa’s hopes of progression took a blow when Mahmoud Jaber suffered an injury against Hapoel Be’er Sheva last time out, and he will now miss both encounters with Olympiakos.

In his absence, they will turn to captain Neta Lavi and midfielder Tjaronn Chery to run their midfield, while Nikita Rukavytsya could start up front.

Olympiakos news

Olympiakos will again rely on Tiquinho Soares to lead their attacking threat on Wednesday, having offloaded misfiring forward Henry Onyekuru to Adana Demirspor on loan.

Former Sevilla goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik will start as their last line of defence, with another experienced European campainer Kostas Manolas featuring in the back four.

Prediction and Odds

It has not always gone as planned in terms of results, but Olympiakos have prepared thoroughly for their latest Champions League campaign.

The visitors have enough attacking talent to score on Wednesday, while Haifa have proved more sluggish in pre-season, leading us to tip a win for the Greek champions.

Odds: 1 2.88 X 2.00 2 2.15

Probable outcomes

Maccabi Haifa 0-2 Olympiakos

Maccabi Haifa 1-2 Olympiakos

Maccabi Haifa 0-3 Olympiakos

Maccabi Haifa 1-3 Olympiakos

Maccabi Haifa 1-1 Olympiakos