Hibernians vs Flora

Following a 2-0 home win in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying tie, Flora are overwhelming favorites to overcome Hibernians as the two teams meet at the Centenary Stadium.

Heading into proceedings as betting outsiders, the hosts have suffered four defeats in their last five outings, including friendlies (W1). Getting off the mark first could be of the essence here, considering that nine of Hibernians’ last ten fixtures won/lost have seen the winner on the day keep a clean sheet (W6, L4). Since playing out a 1-1 away draw with domestic rivals Floriana in late January, none of Hibernians’ subsequent 13 matches have ended level (W9, L4), with ten of those results (win/loss) yielding a full-time margin of 2+ goals. However, since failing to win three consecutive home matches between November and December 2020 (D1, L2), the Maltese giants have racked up an intimidating seven-match winning streak on home turf, returning a +14 goal difference from that spread of games (GF:15, GA:1).

On the other hand, the visitors go into this encounter in the midst of a purple patch, having gone unbeaten in their last seven competitive matches (W6, D1) since a 1-0 away draw to local rivals Levadia in late May. Defensively robust, Flora kept six clean sheets during that seven-game sequence, with a 3-3 home stalemate against Paide in late June being the solitary exception to this run. Away from home, the ‘Triibulised’ have sustained just one loss in nine competitive matches this calendar year (W7, D1, L1), winning the last two in a row by an aggregate score of 5-0. Notably, quick-fire Flora have opened the scoring within 20 minutes of play in three of their previous four competitive away games, winning each by at least a two-goal margin.