Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Sparta Prague Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Hapoel Be’er Sheva are relatively new additions to European football, but they haven’t wasted any time in making a mark for themselves. After two failed Europa League qualification campaigns they made it all the way to the Champions League playoffs this season, narrowly losing 5-4 on aggregate to Celtic. This still afforded them their debut in the Europa League group stages, and they wasted no time in putting their foot down in a tough group.

Their first match pitted them against Italian giants Inter Milan, and Hapoel Be’er Sheva unbelievably came away with a 2-0 win under their belts. They followed this with a goalless draw at home to Southampton to leave them 2nd in the group after two games. Not many would have predicted that with a group including Southampton and Inter Milan.

A win here would take them at least four points clear in the qualification positions, and a win certainly isn’t out of the question. They have only lost twice this season, away to Celtic and Maccabi Haifa. Apart from that they have won six of their last ten games and beat Maccabi Petah Tikva 5-0 at the weekend. At home they have won five of their last six, conceding in just two games and scoring an impressive 16 goals.

Striker Anthony Nwakaeme is their main threat going forward, with the striker having five goals to his name this season, whilst Lucio Maranhao and Miguel Vitor also have three apiece as. Considering their excellent scoring form at home these are definitely players to watch out for on Thursday. Nwakaeme is a decent 7/4 to score anytime with bet365, but if you’re feeling a little riskier Vitor clocks in at a very long 13/2 to find the back of the net.

Sparta Prague’s Vaclav Kadlec has netted twice in the Europa League so far this season, whilst Czech teammates David Lafata and Bolek Dockal have each found the net four times in all competitions. Only Dockal has found the net more than once away from home though, which illustrates Sparta Prague’s struggle on the road.

Whilst they are in good form overall, away from home Sparta Prague have only won three of their nine competitive games this season. In Europe they haven’t won at all on the road, including defeats to Steaua Bucharest and Southampton and a goalless draw against SonderjyskE. In fact, they have failed to score in four of their trips away this term, which isn’t ideal when they’re facing a side who have kept clean sheets against Celtic, Inter Milan, and Southampton this season.

Hapoel Be’er Sheva haven’t conceded a goal at home since the end of August, and they are looking very good going forward as well. Their failure to score against Southampton was simply a result of two very good defensive sides facing off, but Sparta Prague aren’t as good at the back as Southampton. They have conceded eight goals in their last four away matches, so backing Hapoel Be’er Sheva to Win to Nil at excellent odds of 3/1 looks a really good prediction. I’m going for a 2-0 correct score prediction at 10/1 as well.