Three Israeli clubs kick off their European campaigns on the same evening, and according to the odds Winner has put up for the night, only one of them is expected to win.
ONE reports that the bookmaker prices Maccabi Tel Aviv as clear favourites for their trip to Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League second qualifying round, at odds of 2.05 against 2.90 for the Moldovan champions. It is a different story for the other two: Beitar Jerusalem, away to AEK Larnaca in the Conference League, are underdogs at 3.05 with the Cypriots priced at 1.95, and Hapoel Tel Aviv are underdogs even at home, at 2.85 against 2.00 for Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad.
All three are first legs of second qualifying round ties, played on Thursday July 23, with the second legs following a week later on July 30.
Maccabi arrive in Tiraspol with genuine momentum. They lifted the Israeli Super Cup on July 16 with a 3-1 win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and this is their fourth straight season in continental competition, a run of European experience Sheriff — who needed a 1-0 win at Aluminij just to survive the first qualifying round — cannot match. Win or lose over the two legs, the tie's outcome already has a route mapped out: the winner meets whoever comes through Qarabağ against CSKA Sofia in the Europa League third qualifying round, while the loser drops into the Conference League to face the loser of St Gallen against Benfica.
Beitar Jerusalem head to the AEK Arena in Larnaca off the back of a penalty-shootout defeat to Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Toto Cup, and Winner's odds reflect a club still finding its footing against a Cypriot side with recent continental pedigree.
Hapoel Tel Aviv, by contrast, arrive at Bloomfield Stadium unbeaten in six matches, but that hasn't been enough to make them favourites against Ludogorets, who are chasing a European group-stage berth for an eleventh consecutive season. The fixture is a landmark one regardless of the result: it is Hapoel's first appearance in European competition since a 2014-15 Europa League qualifying exit to Astana, and their first-ever entry into the Conference League.
None of this amounts to a prediction — Winner's odds are a market snapshot, not a result, and two-legged qualifying ties have a habit of flipping on a single away goal or a red card. But the numbers do capture where Israeli football's three European entrants stand on paper tonight: one clear favourite, and two clubs being asked to prove the bookmakers wrong.
