Hapoel Be’er Sheva v Celtic Betting Tip Over 2.5 goals – Tuesday 23 August

More goals expected in Israel

Champions League Tips

Hapoel Be’er Sheva v Celtic

Tuesday 23rd August 2016 Kickoff 1945hrs

Football – Champions League – Europe

Celtic obliged for the selection in the preview for last week’s first leg by romping to a 5-2 win at Celtic Park against the Israeli champions. Despite that advantage, however, recent history indicates that the tie is far from over as Celtic have struggled to get results on their travels in Europe. That being said, holding a three goal leads ensures that the Scottish club are big favourites to take their place in Thursday’s draw for the group stages of the 2016/17 Champions League.

Hapoel’s head coach was very honest after the first leg by stating that his players were left shocked at the atmosphere created by the Celtic support. With such limited experience of playing at this level it’s quite understandable considering the cauldron of noise that Celtic Park created on big European nights. That shock certainly affected Hapoel in the first half as they defended very poorly and conceded three goals in a 45 minutes which could well have ended their hopes there and then. To their credit, however, they responded well at the beginning of the second half when they took advantage of some sloppy defending and scored two quick away goals. At that point the advantage was very much in their favour but the visitors were unable to keep their opponents at bay and ended up conceding a further two to leave them with an uphill battle in the return leg on Tuesday.

If anybody had questioned it before last week’s first leg, Celtic resoundingly assured any doubters that this team is hugely different to the one that has taken the field for the last two seasons. Since the embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Lincoln Red Imps in Brendan Rodgers first competitive match in charge, the Hoops have shown tremendous character and resolve to get to the playoff stage, and their dominant performance against Hapoel in the first leg was the biggest indication yet of the style of football that Rodgers is attempting to implement. Some of the goals scored were as high a standard as you’re likely to see in the competition all season and were all very different, too. The pace at which they played at in that first half was a sight to behold and proved too much for their opponents. It was impossible to sustain that tempo for the whole game but the Celtic boss would have been disappointed losing two goals directly after half time, which will act as a reminder of how far the team have to go. Nevertheless, just as they did in the two games against Astana, Celtic recovered and never panicked to restore a three goal lead and give themselves an excellent chance of making it to the group stages for the first time since 2013.

I noted in the preview for last week’s game that Hapoel would be well organised, disciplined and difficult to break down – I was wrong, at least on the basis of last week’s game at Celtic Park. Hapoel essentially won the title last season thanks to a strong defence and that came to the fore in their previous qualifier against Olympiakos when they managed to keep clean sheets in both games against a team who are perennial visitors to the group stage. Conceding the early goal was a killer blow to the visitors plans and it left them chasing the game from an early period. With a three goal lead to make up in the return, the Israeli’s will have to rely on their attack which has proven capable of troubling Celtic’s defence but they have to be better at the other end, too, and can ill-afford to be as generous in defence as they were last Wednesday.

 

Any Celtic supporter who is already planning for the group stages need only remember the likes of Legia Warsaw and Malmo in recent seasons. Both performances in the away legs of those ties were as bad as it gets and whilst they looked a team transformed under Rodgers, there is still work to be done before they can think about the next stage. The first leg and Saturday’s away win over St Johnstone have further illustrated that this Celtic team are much better going forward than they are in defence but the management will not want to go gung ho when holding a three goal lead. Finding that balance will be crucial but with Scott Sinclair and James Forrest on the flanks, Celtic will have pace in abundance and that could prove decisive with the home team requiring to push forward from the outset.

Hapoel Be’er Sheva v Celtic Betting Tips

I fully expected Celtic to win last week but the manner in which they did was very surprising. So often in these two leg affairs, the first game can be very cagey but that could not have been more different to what occurred. Rodgers sent his team out to attack and got his rewards in the end with what looks a sizeable lead heading into the second leg. Hapoel know they need to score three if they are to be in Thursday’s draw but that’s based on them keeping a clean sheet which looks doubtful on the evidence of six days ago. The home team will hope to do what Celtic achieved in the first leg by getting an early goal and building momentum as they bid to overturn the deficit.

I would be extremely surprised if Celtic do not progress from this tie considering the lead they have but they will be tested by a team who have absolutely nothing to lose. The first goal is always important but even if Celtic lose it they remain in a strong position and know that an away goal of their own at any stage is likely to be defining in the nature of this tie. I’ve mentioned the pace they possess on the break and that should lead to a number of opportunities on the break, and with the form Leigh Griffiths is in the smart money is on the away team scoring at least once on their travels. Hapoel have proven they are capable of scoring goals so this has the makings of another entertaining match.

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