After a victory over Villarreal in the Europa League, Maccabi Tel Aviv will return to Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al action this evening on Matchday 13 which will end the first round of league matches at Maccabi Petah Tikva, 21:00.
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Maccabi sits in 4th place with 22 points while Petah Tikva find themselves in 10th spot with 14 points so far this season. After a poor start to the season, Petah Tikva has taken 4 points in their last 2 matches.
Cruyff is looking for momentum:
Head Coach Jordi Cruyff is looking to gain momentum heading into tonight’s game and then onto the second round of league matches: ““Petah Tikva is always a tough game for us. The last few years the matches have always been close and it will be a rough battle. We also know that an unexpected loss of points over the last few weeks has put pressure on ourselves and we can’t lose more points.”
Nick Blackman also addressed the media:
“The team just has to continue to work. We have a great coaching staff and manager and we will do what we have to. We will treat this as any other game and we will focus on taking another victory.”
This may be the first league match between the two this season but Maccabi has already defeated Petah Tikva 3:0 in the Toto Cup as Vidar Kjartansson was the hat trick hero.
Last season, the two sides played each other 7 times across all competitions. Maccabi won 5 matches, one ended in a draw and one was a Petah Tikva win.
Sharon Mimer will be on the sidelines for Petah Tikva this evening after replacing Kobi Refuah this season. Under Mimer’s direction, Petah Tikva won 3 league matches, drew 2 and lost 3 times.
Check out the photos from last night’s final training session:
