Braga v Maccabi Petah Tikva

Braga vs Maccabi Petah Tikva Preview

Braga are yet to start their domestic Portuguese top flight campaign but the hosts are tipped to be hot favourites to win this upcoming 2nd qualifying round tie in the Europa League against their Israeli counterparts, Maccabi Petah Tikva, with an anticipated gulf in quality between the two sides.

The Portuguese hosts finished the Primera Liga season in fourth spot and therefore claimed a place in the Europa League qualifiers and since their final day of the season 1-0 defeat at home to Porto, Braga have lost just once more in their subsequent five pre-season friendlies.

That defeat came in the form of a 2-0 loss at home to Moreirense but nevertheless, Rui Darte's side will be confident that they can pick up a result on home soil at their Estádio Municipal de Braga as they have also collected recent warm-up wins against the likes of Stade-Lausanne-Ouchy, Lausanne Sport and Anderlecht respectively.

The bigger picture shows Braga have been dealt just four defeats in their previous 19 matches in all competitions whilst picking up 13 wins in the process, while also losing just four of their last 13 ties in the Europa League along with winning seven of their last 10 ties at home.

Maccabi Petah Tikva finished in mid-table at the end of the Israeli Ligat Ha'al campaign last season but it was the visitors' impressive run in the domestic State Cup that earned Dan Romann's side a place in the qualifying stages of this season's Europa League thanks to a 1-0 win against Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the final.

Since that victory in the State Cup Maccabi Petah Tikva have been handed back-to-back defeats at the hands of CSKA Sofia and Maccabi Tel Aviv, the latter loss being in the Israeli Super Cup in a 2-0 defeat.

Nevertheless, Maccabi Petah Tikva had ended the previous campaign with a five-game unbeaten sequence which consisted of four wins and a draw; victories gained over Hapoel Nof HaGalil, Hapoel Hadera, Hapoel Petah Tikva and Hapoel Be'er Sheva will give the visitors a chance of achieving a possible result at the Estádio Municipal de Braga on Thursday night.

Results away from home though have been fairly ordinary where Maccabi Petah Tikva have been concerned as the visitors have managed to collect just four wins in their previous 20 outings on the road, while previous results away from home in the Europa League have seen the Israeli side lose four of their last six games on their travels.

Braga v Maccabi Petah Tikva Verdict

Braga's quality in the final third of the pitch should prove to be the difference in this 1st leg while also keeping a clean sheet.

Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS No @ 1.50

Other side bets worth considering:

Braga win & BTTS No @ 1.72

Correct Score: Braga 2-0 @ 6.00