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At the top of Maccabi's wish list for the coming week is ending two long-standing grievances: Winning at Ashdod and advancing in the State Cup. Touch wood

Maccabi Tel Aviv's late-January fixture schedule presents the club with the opportunity to surmount two long-standing hurdles in the space of three days: Winning at Ashdod's "Hayud Alef" Stadium and reaching the quarter finals of the coveted Israeli State Cup. The last time Maccabi won at Ashdod was four and a half years ago and over Maccabi's decade-long record in the State Cup, well, the less said the better. Even the club's recent successes in the Israeli Premier League and in Europe have failed to penetrate the concrete walls surrounding Ashdod FC's home venue, nor those of the offices of the Israeli Football Association, where the State Cup draws are held. With the spectre of these two key matches looming on the horizon, it's time for a reality check.

Curse – "A cause of harm or misery"

It's not entirely clear why Ashdod's Hayud Alef Stadium has become the horror of Maccabi fans in recent years. In fact, up until three years ago, Maccabi Tel Aviv had only lost there four times, just two more times than in the last three years. True, the last five Maccabi visits have produced a meagre harvest of just two goals scored and, last year, an early exit from State Cup competition. But it would appear to have been enough to turn the "Hayud Alef" Stadium, that delightful little arena where in the past Maccabi have always done well, into the stuff of nightmares. What's more frightening is that at home, Maccabi always beat their southern coastal rivals handily, laying the blame for road-trip failures squarely at the feet of the venue itself.

Premonition – "A strong feeling that something is about to happen, especially something unpleasant"

It's also not entirely clear what's gone wrong since Maccabi Tel Aviv last hoisted the Israeli State Cup a decade ago, but from then on the club have not passed the last sixteen of the prestigious competition. During that time the search for a reasonable explanation for this failure has been nothing short of incessant – one time it's the draw, another time the opponent and sometimes it's just because the team simply weren't good enough. No matter how you look at it, against greater or lesser opponents, something about that last win in 2004/05 simply won't let go. Looked at rationally it's simply a series of rather irrational coincidences, but as a Maccabi fan it's goals you care about, not mysticism. Even if you might feel like uttering a prayer and sprinkling a little fairy dust around the goal mouth.

Touch wood – "Hope for the best"

So how do we go about breaking this curse, and banishing this premonition from the Maccabi soul forever? By the looks of it there's no rational solution to the problem, but history teaches us that when a solution is found, it's a beaut. A nine-year victory drought at Maccabi Haifa's former Kiryat Eliezer Stadium was ended last season with an impressive 0-3 triumph. Hapoel Acre, who made a habit of beating Maccabi at their old Napoleon Stadium and humiliated them 4-0 in the State Cup competition of 2005/06, have now scored just one goal in their last seven encounters with Maccabi and lost every one of them. Even Ironi Ramat Hasharon's "Grundman" Stadium, long a thorn in the Maccabi side, became the scene of one of the team's most dramatic come-from-behind victories in the 2012/13 championship season. Last year, on the road to yet another league title, Maccabi not only won at "Grundman" but in the process put three past the home side to no reply.

So apparently there's no magic formula involved here, it just happens when it happens. Even if sprinkling a little fairy dust around the goal posts never hurts.