Maccabi Bnei Raina VS Hapoel Kiryat Shmona

Maccabi Bnei Raina host Kiryat Shmona for this Israeli Ligat ha'Al round 17 battle at Green Stadium in Nof HaGalil. The stakes are high as both teams will probably have to fight hard to avoid relegation. With today's expected lineups I cannot agree with the biggest, often pretty smart bookmakers who see the visitors as solid favorites offering them odds of around 2.30-2.35 to take all three points. In my view the hosts ares slim favorites. Their fans are loyal and loud and support their team even when things are not going too well. Maccabi Bnei Raina were promoted to this level for this season and no one expected they to fight for top-6 positions.. Even so the bookies should respect them more. They have the potential to climb up the standings – perhaps 1-3 places. They are currently in the 13th place in this league with a total of 14 clubs. They would have to organize the defense a bit better - perhaps buy a new defender too. The midfielders should also be more active in defending. The 28 goals they have conceded is too much. However, their number of expected goals allowed (xGA) is just 25.98. They have taken 15 points so far.

The visitors are having a horrible season and are the rock-bottom team in the standings. They have managed to grab just 12 points so far and have a score difference of 17:24. Moreover, they have won just game in this league so far! The host have at least won three.. Neither team have won any of their most recent five games in this league and I expect an anxious, pretty defensive battle here. I do not expect either team team to take big risks if the score is level later in to the second half. The draw would not surprise anyone and would be enough for my fans and me to win. The probability for this result is 33%. The visitors do have potential for much better, but the betting market clearly gives this too much potential! Despite the league table I do see them as the little better team here by pure class – they should have much more offensive power than the hosts. However, the improvement is not expect to happen fast..