FH Hafnarfjordur vs Hapoel Haifa Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

A feisty 1-1 draw in Israel spells an exciting second leg for the neutrals. Six yellow cards were shown in the first tie and that trend could continue with much more at stake in this match. FH have the advantage with an away goal and the fact that they are already deep into their domestic season can only be a plus.

FH haven’t had a great year so far though with four defeats in their opening 14 league games. An inconsistent run of performances have been extremely frustrating for their fans as sometimes they can prove to be steely; closing out tight wins over Grindavik and KA but then just a few weeks later they rolled over and got thrashed 4-1 by Breidablik. However, after winning 1-0 at the weekend, this should give them some confidence going into this massive European clash.

After nine successful years under manager Heimir Guðjónsson, this will be new coach Ólafur Kristjánsson’s first full year in charge of FH. Despite five title wins under Guðjónsson, FH could never seem to lay a glove on Europe with many early round defeats year after year and never any real prospect of group stage football. Kristjánsson was brought in last year to change that. This will be the club’s first campaign under him and after a confident dismissal of Lahti in the first round they now have a real chance of overcoming the richer Hapoel Haifa to reach the third round. where either Atalanta of Italy or Sarajevo of Bosnia and Herzegovina await them.

Hapoel Haifa have only played five matches since coming back from their Summer break but they have been two losses and three draws, so you could hardly call it “healthy preparation for the season ahead.” Haifa qualified for Europe by finishing fourth last season but in recent times they have been more accustomed to finishing anywhere between eighth and thirteenth, so last year was a real achievement for the club.

It’s their first campaign in Europe since 2000 and with them not taking advantage of the home leg, their European inexperience plus poor away record will likely see them not progress any further in the competition. They have only won two of their last 11 away games and that doesn’t look to be changing as they make the journey to chilly Iceland where it is expected to be nine degrees upon kick-off, a big difference compared to the usual 30 degrees heat of Israel. FH also have a very good home record going into this match with only one loss in their last nine home matches, and that was against second-place Stjarnan.

Due to these stats we’re going to be backing Hafnarfjördur to get through this one with a narrow 2-1 victory. Haifa should get a goal in Iceland though as they’ve only failed to score once in their last 11 matches. None of their performances recently have been overly optimistic though, and the Icelanders should swing this one.