OFI seeks a second Europa League win against Hapoel Be'er Sheva in Bucharest

Venue and kickoff

OFI meets Hapoel Be'er Sheva on Thursday, 5 November, at 22:00 at the Rapid Giulesti Stadium in Bucharest. The match is being played at a neutral venue because of the tense situation in Israel, so the Cretan side has travelled to Romania for the fixture. Magenta Sport 5 will show the game live, and it is the fourth matchday of the Europa League League Phase. It is the first time OFI has faced a team from Israel, and the club hopes to pair that milestone with a positive result. The match is one of several European fixtures on the same evening.

Form and what is at stake

OFI is 26th in the League Phase and outside the qualifying places after losing 2-1 away at Rennes and 0-2 at home to Bayer Leverkusen. Its only win in the competition so far is a 2-0 result over Hoffenheim in the opener, which gives it three points. Coach Christos Kontis asked his players to play without fear and to cut down on errors at the pre-match press conference. The side also arrives after an away win over Panaitolikos in Agrinio, which offers a much-needed psychological lift. A win would move OFI into a stronger position in the race for the knockout phase.

Team news

The reported starting line-up, released shortly before kickoff, has Lilo in goal and a 3-4-3 shape with Pougouras, Nikolaou and Krizmanitz in the back three. That differs from earlier predictions, which had Kostoulas and Sielis starting in central defence. Aaron Isek is back in the squad, adding options in attack. Apostolakis is out with discomfort, while Christogeorgos, Chnaris, Marinakis, Romano and Lagoudakis are sidelined through injury. Chatzigiovanis is in Romania but is not on the list and cannot take part.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva and the officials

Hapoel is coached by Ran Kozuch and is expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1 according to predicted line-ups. The Israeli side has won five straight matches in the domestic league but has taken only one point in Europe. Although listed as the home side, Hapoel is missing several players in midfield, according to the same previews. The referee is Edgars Maitsefs, with Mario Zembets and Kristaps Ratnieks working the VAR. Both results from the opening rounds leave OFI needing points to move up the table.

What the result could mean

Football Meets Data puts OFI's chance of a top-24 finish, which secures a knockout-phase place, at 27.6%, and its chance of a top-eight finish at 0.3%. A defeat would cut the top-24 chance by 11.6 percentage points to 16.8%, while a draw would lower it by 1.2 points to 27.5%. A win would add 27.4 points and lift the chance to 54.2%. The next league-phase games are at home to Anderlecht on 26 November and at home to Benfica on 10 December.

Current27.6%

Defeat16.8%

Draw27.5%

Win54.2%

Current

27.6 %

Defeat

16.8 %

Draw

27.5 %

Win

54.2 %

Data from the article text