Maccabi Tel Aviv
After the loss to Hapoel Jerusalem that kept them out of the championship fight, Maccabi Tel Aviv wants to at least regain the trust of the crowd tomorrow (Sunday, 15:00 on Sport4) against Hapoel Haifa. Despite the crisis, 3,000 fans will watch until Sami Ofer tomorrow at noon and want to reconnect with the team after the boos and insults from the stands last Saturday.
Maccabi Tel Aviv no longer talks about the long term. The goal is specific and contemporary, to win tomorrow and enter the top playoffs with three more points and an improved mood.
As far as the professional aspect is concerned, Aitor Karanka will first have to see if he has Derrick Lucassen for tomorrow after yesterday the brakeman was absent from training and he is still in doubt even though he had a normal training session yesterday morning. It is possible that Andre Geraldes will go down to the bench in favor of Rarsh Ilya as a fifth foreigner and then Maor Kandil will start as a right back. Ofir Davidzadeh has recovered from injury and should start in a formation of four in the back line.
Trivia
* 124 meetings were held between the teams in the senior league, with Maccabi Tel Aviv leading 30:59 in victories and another 35 games were not decided.
* Hapoel Haifa has not defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv in the last 12 league meetings, since the 1:2 away match in March 2018. They have also lost in all of the last seven.
* The last home victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv was in February 2015, when Mehran Lala and Tedas Kianskas scored 0:2 for Hapoel Haifa.
* The two met in the round of 26 also six years ago, when the loaned Dor Peretz scored an own goal that gave Maccabi Tel Aviv 0:1 in the match they hosted in Netanya.
* This is a meeting between the two teams that scored the fewest points from behinds: Maccabi Tel Aviv with three and Hapoel Haifa with only two. Apart from them, only Kiryat Shmona has not yet made a change this season.
* Hapoel Haifa scored less than any other team in the league in home games: only nine goals. On the other hand, they also conceded only six as hosts – only Maccabi Tel Aviv has a better record (five mandatory goals at home).
The composition of the groups
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Coach: Aitor Karanka
The game setup
4:4:2
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30M. Candle -
25d. Lucasan -
4A. Savorit -
27A. Davidzada
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11R. Ilya -
6d. Glazer -
23A. Gulsa -
18P. Giagon
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99third. Jovanovic -
7P. golden
Substitutes bench:
The games of the 26th round:
Saturday, 15:00: Hapoel Haifa – Maccabi Tel Aviv (Sport4)
Saturday, 17:30: Hapoel Jerusalem – Maccabi Bnei Rayna
Saturday, 18:30: Nes Ziona section – Hapoel Hadera
Saturday, 19:30: Bnei Sakhnin – Beitar Jerusalem (Sport4)
Saturday, 19:30: Maccabi Netanya – MS. Ashdod (Sport2)
Sunday, 20:15: Hapoel Be’er Sheva – Kiryat Shmona City (Sport2)
Monday, 20:30: Hapoel Tel Aviv – Maccabi Haifa