Maccabi Tel Aviv vs CSKA Sofia prediction 06.08.2026 | Europa League

Historically, Maccabi Tel Aviv is the most successful Israeli team. However, in the previous year, they finished third and now plan to return to the throne in domestic football. Maccabi Tel Aviv have been pretty regular in the UEFA competitions, too. Last season, they played in the Europa League, but finished with only one point in eight matches.

Maccabi Tel Aviv were excellent at the start of the 2026/27 season. First, they won 3-1 in the national Super Cup against Hapoel Beer Sheva. In the previous two weeks, they also played in the previous round of the Europa League qualifications, in which Kenny Miller's team easily beat Sheriff 6-0 on aggregate.

In the second leg against Sheriff, Maccabi Tel Aviv won only 1-0, which left the head coach Kenny Miller unsatisfied. He said, "We could have won with more goals if we had shown a little more quality in the final third. There is a certain frustration that we did not score more and that we were not better, but we won and moved on."

It is early in the season, but Maccabi Tel Aviv already have serious problems with injuries. Roi Mishpati, Tyrese Asante, Denny Gropper, Kristijan Belic, Hisham Layous, Ion Nicolaescu, and Elad Madmon are unavailable for Thursday's game against CSKA Sofia.

CSKA Sofia are regularly among the best Bulgarian teams. Last season, they ended fourth, but they won the domestic cup and secured a place in the Europa League qualifications. CSKA Sofia haven't had many successes in UEFA competitions in recent years, as they last played in the group stage five seasons ago.

CSKA Sofia are still unbeaten in the 2026/27 season. In the Europa League qualifiers, they beat Derry City (5-3 on aggregate) and, after penalties, Qarabag. In the Bulgarian league, CSKA collected seven points from three matches. In the most recent outing, they won 2-1 at home against Dunav Ruse. The hosts dominated throughout the game and probably deserved a more comfortable victory.

The head coach Christo Yanev was far from satisfied after a victory a few days ago against Dunav Ruse. He said, "I didn't like many things. For the third consecutive match, we are starting the match extremely poorly. We are playing a very weak first half. This cannot continue in the future, because in some matches we will not have enough strength and be lucky enough to turn the match around."

CSKA Sofia should have a full squad available for the game on Thursday evening.