Beitar Jerusalem vs Saint-Etienne Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Beitar Jerusalem’s 3-0 win at home against Jelgava a couple of weeks ago has taken them into uncharted territory. The impressive performance made it 4-1 on aggregate and has taken them to the Europa League playoff round for the first time in their history.  In fact, this is their first European campaign full stop since the 2008/09 season, when their trio of appearances in Europe ended at the 2nd Qualifying Round.

Some of Beitar Jerusalem’s performances may have been a little uninspiring, but they have managed to get the job done so far. Prior to their 4-1 aggregate win against Jelgava they saw off Sloboda Tuzla 1-0 on aggregate before beating Omonia Nicosia on away goals. However, Saint-Etienne will provide a much bigger challenge for the Israelis.

The hosts aren’t in overly good form overall either. They have only won one of their last six games in all competitions, losing three times and drawing twice. Their 4-1 defeat to Hapoel Be’er Sheva recently ended a four match winning streak on home turf as well.

Saint-Etienne didn’t get off to a great start in their domestic campaign either. They lost 3-2 to Bordeaux on Saturday to make it five defeats, one win, and one draw in their last seven matches in all competitions. The win and draw did come in the Europa League though, with them edging out AEK Athens 1-0 on aggregate.

This 1-0 win came in Athens as well, making it three away wins in the Europa League in their last seven matches. They have only lost to Basel and Lazio, so they do travel fairly well in Europe.

My prediction is that Beitar Jerusalem will set up defensively in the hope of keeping the scores level and potentially snatching a home win. However, Saint-Etienne have a lot of quality when compared to their hosts, and they will be a much tougher test than any team Beitar Jerusalem have faced so far in the competition. I think the visitors can get a win on Wednesday, and odds of 6/5 for this outcome look very good value to me. I’m going for a tight 1-0 correct score prediction at 9/2 as well.