Both aiming to boost their faint hopes of progressing to the Europa League knockout phase playoffs, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Rigas Futbola Skola will do battle in the sixth round of league-phase fixtures on Thursday.
The Israeli outfit picked up their first points of the campaign by beating Besiktas last time out, while their opponents are a point worse off having managed two draws from their first five outings.
Match preview
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Maccabi Tel Aviv return to action on Thursday aiming to make it back-to-back continental victories to strengthen their claim to advance in the Europa League.
After dropping out of Champions League qualifying and settling for a spot in the league phase of Europe's secondary competition, the Yellows endured a tough start, failing to pick up a single point from their first four outings, as they suffered defeats to Braga, FC Midtjylland, Real Sociedad and Ajax before travelling to Turkey to take on Besiktas last month.
The Israeli champions would get off the mark with an impressive victory in that game, going 1-0 and 2-1 up in the first half through Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz before Weslley Patati put the game out of sight 10 minutes from time.
Zarko Lazetic's side followed up that triumph with a 2-1 away win over Maccabi Bnei Reineh, but they have since dropped off top spot in their Israeli Premier League defence following back-to-back draws, most recently being held away at Hapoel Haifa, as Guy Melamed cancelled out Patati's opener with a second-half leveller from the penalty spot.
Still unbeaten in five games across league and continental action, though, and having narrowed their gap to the knockout phase playoff spots to two points with three games to go, Maccabi Tel Aviv will bid to put another victory on the board on Thursday to further improve their chances of progressing.
![Petr Mares of FK Rigas Futbola Skola during the UEFA Europa Conference League Group A match at Tynecastle Park on October 10, 2022 [on August 20, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/34/petr-mares.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Petr Mares of FK Rigas Futbola Skola during the UEFA Europa Conference League Group A match at Tynecastle Park on October 10, 2022 [on August 20, 2024]")
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Their opponents, meanwhile, head to the Partizan Stadium in Serbia in search of a first win of their own in the league phase, having somewhat struggled thus far.
Rigas Futbola Skola also fell short in Champions League Qualifying at the start of the 2024-25 season, before progressing through two stages to reach the Europa League league phase, and they have since earned just two points from five outings.
Those points came from 2-2 and 1-1 home draws with Galatasaray and Anderlecht respectively in October and November, either side of a 1-0 defeat away at Eintracht Frankfurt, before most recently hosting PAOK late last month.
Kiril Despodov put their visitors ahead inside two minutes in that contest, and Viktors Morozs's side were unable to get back into the game after Fyodor Chalov doubled PAOK's lead on the hour mark.
Now returning to Europa League action on the back of a friendly defeat to Malmo, after winning a domestic double in November, Rigas Futbola Skola have three games to bridge a three-point gap to the league phase's top 24 and will be desperate to put a first win on the board to keep those hopes alive on Thursday.
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Team News
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Maccabi Tel Aviv should field a similar starting XI from their win away at Besiktas last time out in the Europa League, with Dor Turgeman bound to again lead the line having netted a team-high tally of nine goals in all competitions so far this season.
After missing the weekend's draw with Hapoel Haifa through suspension, midfielder Issouf Sissokho will return to contention on Thursday, but Zarko Lazetic should stick with the pairing of Gabi Kanichowsky and Joris van Overeem in the middle of their 4-2-3-1 setup.
After scoring against Besiktas and in Sunday's draw, Weslley Patati will continue on the wing, likely joining Dor Peretz and Osher Davida in support of Turgeman.
Rigas Futbola Skola remain without attacker Ismael Diomande, who has been sidelined since September with an injury.
Janis Ikaunieks, who leads the squad with 18 goals this season, will continue to spearhead the attack in his absence, likely alongside Cedric Kouadio.
Herdi Prenga, Ziga Lipuscek and Daniels Balodis should again line up in a back three, while Stefan Panic continues to play a key role in the midfield having contributed 10 goals in 38 appearances this season.
Maccabi Tel Aviv possible starting lineup:
Mashpati; Lemkin, Stojic, Shlomo, Jehezkel; Kanichowsky, Van Overeem; Davida, Peretz, Patati; Turgeman
Rigas Futbola Skola possible starting lineup:
Ondoa; Balodis, Prenga, Lipuscek; Savalnieks, Markhiev, Panic, Zelenkovs, Odisharia; Ikaunieks, Kouadio
We say: Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 Rigas Futbola Skola
With more quality in their ranks and confidence from a first victory in the league phase last time out, we back Maccabi Tel Aviv to take all three points and close the gap to the top 24 on Thursday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
