- Sheriff are unbeaten in their last 5 matches, winning 3 and drawing 2, and are on a 2-game winning streak.
- Maccabi have won 5, drawn 2 and lost 3 of their last 10 in all competitions, which is a decent run, but not as strong as their opponents this week.
- Sheriff have been more impressive on their own patch in 2026, winning 4 and drawing 1 of their 5 home games in all competitions.
Sheriff have sharp shape to make this interesting
FC Sheriff Tiraspol are unbeaten in their last 5 games, winning 3 and drawing 2, while Maccabi Tel-Aviv are also on a 2-game winning run, but their record across the last 5 is 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses.
The Moldovan's shape is stronger than their Israeli visitors, winning 6, drawing 3 and losing just 1 of their 10 matches in all competitions.
Maccabi are available at 2.3 for Thursday's game, with the draw coming in at 3.12, which is too narrow for our taste and suggests that this game may end up being a knife-edge clash.
Kenny Miller's Tel-Aviv side have been a high-tempo unit since the Scotsman took over on 1 July 2026, but they are still finding their rhythm and it will be interesting to see how they get on against a very compact and disciplined Sheriff side.
Victor Mihailov has moulded his squad into a formidable unit since taking over on 1 June 2025, and there is no better example of their style and ability to play through turnovers than the last 2 results in league and Europe.
Sheriff beat FC Zimbru Chisinau 4-2 at home in the Super Liga and then followed that up with a 1-0 win away to Aluminij in UEFA Europa League Qualification, so this could be a much trickier evening for Maccabi than they are expecting.
Tel-Aviv tend to win when they click
Maccabi's last 5 games have given us 10 goals, with Dor Peretz bagging 4 of them for the visitors, but Sheriff are also a threat going forward, particularly Jayder Asprilla, who has 3 of their 8 in his last 5 matches.
Tel-Aviv will look to play their usual 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, with lots of pressing and rotation in the midfield, and plenty of width to pinch possession back when out of it.
Sheriff set up in a very flexible 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1, as they look to stay compact in the central zones and then attack directly when they win the ball back.
There is no head-to-head record to guide us, so this is a real chess match of styles and we feel Maccabi will find it hard to get their high-pressing game working against a side as rigidly structured as Sheriff.
Sheriff's recent home record is impressive - 4 wins and 1 draw from 5 games, with 2.00 goals scored and only 0.40 conceded per match on average.
Under 2.5 goals at 1.64 looks a decent angle here, as the hosts don't tend to let many in and Maccabi will be wary of being caught out by the counter-attack when they push on.
Both Teams To Score - No at 1.82 also fits the script, as this is a clash between two teams that are very confident in their respective styles of play and it will be fascinating to see how it pans out at the Sheriff Stadium on Thursday.
