On Tuesday evening, Maccabi Haifa hosts Juventus at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Group H of the Champions League as the home side looks for their first points of the group stage.
The Israeli outfit heads into this clash in poor form, as a weekend defeat at Maccabi Bnei Raina, means that Maccabi has suffered five losses in their previous seven games in all competitions.
Together ⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/0RHszbJ2w1— Leonardo Bonucci (@bonucci_leo19) October 10, 2022
Together ⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/0RHszbJ2w1
To be fair to the home team, three of those five defeats have come in the Champions League. The defeats against Benfica, PSG, and last time out Juventus saw Maccabi concede at least two goals in each loss.
In fact, Maccabi Haifa has conceded at least two goals in their previous six games in European football’s elite competition while recording just one win in the run.
The 3-1 home defeat by PSG in gameweek two ended a four-game unbeaten home run for the Israeli team in the Champions League.
A 2-0 defeat at reigning Italian champions Milan at the weekend ended a mini two-game winning run for the Bianconeri in all competitions.
However, Max Allegri’s team can at least say they have points on the board in the Champions League after a 3-1 home win over Tuesday night’s opponents in the reverse fixture.
The win put Juventus back in contention for a place in the last 16.
The victory ended a four-game winless run for Juventus in the competition while also ending a three-match losing run in all competitions.
The team from Turin also have an underwhelming recent away record in the Champions League, having failed to win in their last three away games while also suffering two defeats on their travels.
Forebet predicts Juventus will record a narrow win in a low-scoring game to kick-start their European campaign.