- Vikingur form: Vikingur Reykjavik's recent form: W3, D1, L1.
- Hapoel form: Hapoel Beer-Sheva's recent form: W2, L3.
Back the home side on Vikingur’s home soil
Home advantage and form
Vikingur will look to make good use of home advantage against Hapoel in this Champions League qualifying game. Vikingur's European spark comes from Daniel Hafsteinsson, who has 2 goals in 2 UEFA Champions League Qualification 2026 games.
Vikingur have looked strong in their 3 games this season, against KA Akureyri, beating Gyori ETO FC 1-0 in UEFA Champions League Qualification 2026 before drawing 2-2 away in the return leg.
Tactics and odds
Hapoel's attack will stretch the pitch, but Vikingur's high press may see this becoming a tough game for the Israelis. Vikingur's boss Soelvi Ottesen has Vikingur playing with bite, mixing a possession-based game with well-timed pressing from up top and a compact, hard to break down shape when protecting leads.
Soelvi's side are the slight favorites at 2.28, but this is a tight game. Hapoel come in at 2.87 and the draw at 3.5. Hapoel's boss Ran Kozuch sets his team up in an attack-minded 4-3-3, with width at the top of the field, midfield control and the ability to press proactively and force the opposition into mistakes.
Aron Elis Thrandarson has been in top form for Vikingur with 3 goals in the last 5 games.
Vikingur are the form team
The market leans toward Vikingur, but Vikingur have the home advantage and are the stronger of the two teams in their current form.
Vikingur to win or draw is the safer bet here.
- Vikingur have 8 wins in their last 10 in all competitions, a run which suggests they are the team to back in this matchup.
- Hapoel are 5 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats from their last 10, a stretch of games which looks like a team that is prone to mistakes at the wrong time.
- Hapoel have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their 5 games on the road this season, which means they can get a result on their travels, but their current run of 3 straight defeats, the last two of which came at home against Maccabi Tel-Aviv (1-2 in State Cup 2025/2026 and 1-3 in Super Cup 2026) suggests that Vikingur have the clear path to victory in this UEFA Champions League Qualification 2026 tie.
