Sunday’s league match will be the 140th encounter between the two sides in all competitions of which Maccabi won 71 lost 30 while 38 matches were drawn. The total goal tally is 204-114 in Maccabi’s favor.
Maccabi played 59 league matches away to Be’ersheva winning 22 and losing 18.
Of the 26 clubs that played more than five matches against Be’ersheva, Maccabi is the only club in the league with a positive record.
Three days after playing Be’ersheva at Turner stadium in the league, Maccabi face the Southerners at Bloomfield stadium for the Semi Final of the State Cup. This will be the 10th time that Maccabi faces the same opponent in the League and Cup in the space of three days.
In two of those nine fixtures, the State Cup tie was a Semi Final.
In 1974 the return leg of Maccabi’s Semi Final Cup tie against Hapoel Haifa ended in a 0-0 draw. Maccabi were eliminated on aggregate after the first leg ended in a 1-0 Haifa victory.
In 2005 Maccabi beat Maccabi Petah Tikva 2-1 in the Semi Final on the way to winning the Cup that year.
Three members of Maccabi’s current squad: Ofir Davidzada, Dan Biton and Eden Shamir played for Hapoel Be’ersheva in the past.
Hapoel Be’ersheva have 4 former Maccabi players in their squad: Sagiv Yehezkel, Eitan Tibi, Dor Micha, Etey Shechter while Hatem El Hamid played for Maccabi at U19’s level.
