Maccabi Haifa FC vs Fiorentina Prediction & Betting Tips - Conference League

Prediction published on 07/03/2024, 06:06  by Sridhar in Conference League Predictions

In their first UEFA competition round of 16 in more than 15 years, Maccabi Haifa will target home success against last year's Conference League finalists Fiorentina. This first leg of the Europa Conference League round of 16 will be played at the neutral venue of Bozsik Arena in Budapest on Thursday. The hosts were last seen in a knockout competition of the UEFA tournaments back in 2006/07. This season, they finished third in their UEFA Europa League Group F engagements before sliding down to the Conference League. They defeated Gent in a tight knockout round play-off to reach this stage. Playing their home matches at a neutral venue because of the war in Israel, Maccabi had a famous 2-0 win at home against Juventus in the last season's Champions League group stage. That was, however, preceded by a four-game winless run against Italian clubs.

Fiorentina continued from the last season, where they finished as beaten finalists, topping their Group F engagements. They went unbeaten in the group stages, winning and drawing three games each. Yet, recent form is a big headache for the Italians, who seemed to have lost a bit of momentum. They won just three of their last 11 matches in all competitions, with one of those victories coming via penalties. This sequence has seen them lose five matches, which could peg them back in this first leg. They would hope to bank on their away form in this competition to get back to winning ways, having won seven of their last 12 away games in the Conference League.