Maccabi Tel Aviv’s honor lies in its place, but it seems that if there is a clear title to the reality after the 16th round of the Premier League – then it is, in the best legacy of “Seinfeld”, “then there are two left”: Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Beer Sheva stand, at least for now, As the main contenders for the championship title in the 21/22 season – when we are almost halfway to the moment when the plate will swing at the end of the season. It will be the struggle and narrative of the upcoming season, when in fact these two teams will meet for the first time in history for a head-to-head duel over the crown.
This is how the table looks after 16 rounds: an arrowhead of two clear teams, which are in the gap over the rest of the league – Hapoel Beer Sheva in first place with 40 points, Maccabi Haifa second with 38. Only two points, a gap created in the same crazy game in the previous round between teams – The game in which Be’er Sheva, under the auspices of a crazy storm of red cards and penalties and a tense atmosphere, returned with all the points from Sami Ofer.
In two weeks less a day, Maccabi Haifa will reach Turner – with the clear knowledge that if it also passes this obstacle, it will probably not really be possible to stop it on the way to a second championship in a row. In case of loss? The gap will grow to five points, the advantage will be in the hands of Roni Levy and his players – after two meetings against the Greens – and the road will be shortened a little further on the way to the Reds’ first championship after four years.
So in honor of the struggle that will come upon us for good, we decided to conduct the comparative test – through the data: Who, really, is better? And which is higher – the stability of Be’er Shevait or the Haifa flame? Spori’s breakthrough or Noble’s supremacy? Roni Levy’s huge defensive line or Barak Bachar’s stormy attack? Parameter by parameter, let’s get going.
Defense: The advantage – on the red side (but not as you thought)
The truth is that the gap is smaller than commonly thought. Hapoel BS has conceded 10 goals so far this season, Maccabi Haifa has conceded a total of only three more goals. However, when it comes to personal data – Mariano Briero leads the league with errors (119) and successful errors (70). Ali Muhammad, who will facilitate a total of 78 times (49 of them are successful).
By the way, in the ball rescue category, Bogdan Planic from Maccabi Haifa saved more balls (139) than Miguel Vitor, Hapoel Beer Sheva’s leading brake (only 126). Another advantage for the Reds: Beer Sheva not only did not lose the season in 90 minutes in an Israeli setting, it also kept a clean sheet in seven of the 16 games this season (almost half the amount of games).
Attack: A clear advantage for Haifa (but the momentum with BS)
The gap between the teams can be seen with the eyes – Maccabi Haifa is more offensive and sweeping, and this is also reflected in the numbers – the Greens scored 42 goals this season, their opponent scored “only” 29. In seven games this season out of 16, Maccabi Haifa scored more than two goals.
Above all, the offensive king is undisputed Noble Omar – When he leads the league in all offensive categories: Noble is the king of goals (11), the king of the cooks (8), leading with threats to the goal (48), leading with precise key dedications (24), threats to the frame (24) and threats from an extension (32).
Noble’s biggest opponent – at least at the title level – is the number 7 red, Spurs hints, The “engine” of Be’er Sheva this season and whoever finds himself in the big season of his life. Spori has only 7 goals this season, but he does so with fewer threats to the goal than Noble – Spori threatens only 32 times (compared to Noble’s 48). Meaning – out of 32 attempts to score, Spori finds the frame 13 times (40%) and satisfies the net (21%).
At the team level, Maccabi Haifa leads the league not only in the number of goals, but also in ball possession (59.67% of the time), threats to the frame (99 vs. 88 of BS), threats from an extension (146 vs. 128 of BS), with key dedication Accuracy (102) – and she even leads the league in the number of times she has been caught off guard (52).
If BS wants to be comforted by some offensive figure, then this is the momentum – and entering the pace of its X Factor, Nikita Rokavica. The king of goals in the last two years may have started the season slowly, but in the last eight games he has already scored seven goals, and when the Australian striker gets in shape – all the attacking ability of the players around him improves. Who like Maccabi Haifa knows?
Historical precedents: We’ve been there before
This is not the first time that the championship battle has been waged between two opposite teams – one offensive and glamorous, the other effective and stable. We remember two historical cases well: the first was in the 1997/98 season, then Kashtan’s Betar Jerusalem (which scored 71 goals that season and conceded 28) against Eli Cohen’s Hapoel Tel Aviv “The Sheriff” (only 44 goals, but conceded only 16) Then, Barak won – but there is also the example of 1996: Maccabi Tel Aviv scored only 59 goals (and conceded 16), Maccabi Haifa scored 74 – but lost the title to the Yellows, who even then, were led by Dror Kashtan.
Both decisions were only in the final round. It is not clear how it will end, but it is clear that there is a battle here between two strong teams, with quite a few experienced players. And if we learned anything from the last game between the teams – is that football can be unexpected. Now, it remains only to wait for the great confrontation, which will answer the question: Who will be the champion?
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