Hapoel Beer Sheva vs Sabah FK prediction 19.08.2026 | UEFA Champions League

Hapoel Beer Sheva come into Wednesday's first leg looking to bounce back from a disappointing 4:0 defeat against Hapoel Haifa in the Toto Cup AI. Liran Rotman score twice as Hapoel eased to victory on Saturday.

Before that setback, the Israelis produced one of the biggest upsets of the Champions League third qualifying round with an outstanding victory against Red Star Belgrade.

Ran Kozuk’s side secured a 1:0 first-leg win before claiming an impressive 2:0 victory in Belgrade with goals from Igor Zlatanović and Javon East securing a brilliant road win.

The Israeli champions have now recorded three successive Champions League victories without conceding, having also beaten Vikingur Reykjavik 2:0 in the previous round.

A strong home record in European competition should give the Israelis confidence this week. Hapoel are unbeaten in nine of their ten continental home fixtures since 2022 and have lost only two of their last 19 designated home matches in Europe.

Still, this fixture is being staged in neutral Hungary due to the ongoing conflict in Israel.

Head coach Kozuk has a strong squad available this week. Dan Biton and Joao Victor are the only reported injury issues for the home side.

Zlatanovic should continue at the spearhead of the attack after scoring in Belgrade, while East and Zahi Ahmed are likely to feature in the host’s forward line.

Sabah make the trip to neutral Hungary in high spirits after maintaining their strong form with a 2:0 domestic victory against Kepez.

Joy-Lance Mickels opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute before Xander Severina secured the points in stoppage time.

The Azerbaijan champions have been in excellent form in the UCL, claiming five victories from their six Champions League qualifying fixtures this season.

Valdas Dambrauskas's side eased past TNS and KuPS before producing a memorable comeback against Danish opponents AGF in the third qualifying round.

The Azerbaijani champions slipped to a 2:1 first-leg defeat in Denmark but responded with an emphatic 4:0 victory in Baku to secure a 5:2 aggregate success.

Sabah have now scored 12 goals and conceded only three across six qualifying fixtures, keeping four clean sheets in the process.

The in-form away side have now won six of their last seven competitive fixtures, while they have lost just three of their last 44 games since August 2025. 

Dambrauskas has no confirmed new injury concerns and is likely to stick with the same side that thrashed AGF last week.

Veljko Simic is expected to feature having scored five goals in the Champions League qualification campaign.