Much like the weather itself, the Israeli Premier League fixture schedule for the month of October may very well have some surprises in store
Matchweek 4, Monday October 20th, Maccabi Tel Aviv host Maccabi Haifa (live broadcast on Israeli channel 11, starting 8.50pm)
Three weeks of quiet on the Israeli Premier League front, the result of the combined holiday and international breaks, will be shattered by one of the traditionally most intriguing fixtures in Israeli football. Maccabi Haifa, with their new Serbian coach Aleksandar Stanojevic on the touchline, will be coming to Bloomfield Stadium for one of the key matches of the season. Owner Ya'akov Shachar's team spent the summer retooling, bringing in among others the Serbian international goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic, the Cameroonian international striker Mohammadou Idrissou and returning international Israeli star and captain Yossi Ben Ayoun. At their brand new stadium, "Sammy Ofer", Maccabi Haifa have taken all six available points while losing their one away game to Beitar Jerusalem. The question is, which Maccabi Haifa will turn up at Bloomfield.
Matchweek 5, Sunday October 26th, Maccabi Tel Aviv visit Hapoel Acre (live broadcast on Israeli channel Sport 1, starting 8.15pm)
Last season, Maccabi Tel Aviv found themselves at Acre's "Toto" Stadium in matchweek 1 and were 0-2 up after only seven minutes, effectively putting the match to bed. By all appearances it won't be that easy this time around: Head coach Alon Harazi and his team have yet to lose this season, drawing each one of their first three matches 1-1 after coming from behind. Acre boast a front three composed of foreign players, including Albanian international Hamdi Salihi, Bosnian striker Emir Hadzic and Brazilian attacking midfielder Juliano Spadacio. At the back, on the other hand, it's all domestic talent. Could this be just the recipe for beating the reigning champions?
Matchweek 6, Wednesday October 29th, Maccabi Tel Aviv host Ashdod FC (live broadcast on Israeli channel Sport 1 starting 7.45pm)
As a consequence of the disturbances this past summer, and the resultant delay in the start of the season, matchweek 6 will be played mid-week and provide Maccabi Tel Aviv with their last encounter in the month of October. Much like Hapoel Acre, Asdod FC have yet to lose a league match since the start of the season, drawing twice at home against Ironi Kiryat Shmona and Bnei Sakhnin and beating Hapoel Haifa at the latter's brand new "Sammy Ofer" Stadium. Ashdod head coach and former Maccabi Tel Aviv star Nir Klinger, the last domestic coach to win a title with Maccabi (2002/03), will return to his glorious roots at Bloomfield Stadium and bring with him a mixed bag of three front men – Murad Abu Anza, who has scored in the side's last two league matches, Nigerian striker Yero Bello and Argentinian forward David Solari. Last season Maccabi won at home but at Ashdod's "Yud-Alef" Stadium Maccabi suffered their disappointing exit from the State Cup competition. And this time?
Additional October events:
Friday October 10th, Israel open their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in Cyprus
Monday October 13th, the national side's second Euro 2016 qualifier at Andorra
