Buoyant Porto host point-less Maccabi Tel-Aviv

In their first ever meeting with Israeli opponents, FC Porto will be hoping to make it seven Group G points out of nine against Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC, who have lost both their opening fixtures.

Match background

Porto
• The 2003/04 and 1986/87 European Cup winners, who are in their 20th group stage campaign, were denied a winning start on matchday one when substitute Vitaliy Buyalskiy scored a last-minute equaliser for FC Dynamo Kyiv in a 2-2 draw.

• Porto were 2-1 winners at home to Chelsea FC on matchday two and are level with Dynamo on four points at the top of the section.

• Julen Lopetegui's men won five and drew one of their six home games (including play-offs) in last season's competition, including a 6-0 defeat of FC BATE Borisov.

• Porto reached last season's quarter-finals where they lost to FC Bayern München (winning 3-1 at home, losing 6-1 away) and are unbeaten in their last 11 European home matches (W8 D3).

Maccabi
• The Israeli double winners clinched only their second place in the UEFA Champions League group stage with a 1-1 draw at home to FC Basel 1893 after the play-off first leg had ended 2-2.

• Eran Zahavi scored seven goals in qualifying, in which Maccabi won one, drew one and lost one of their three away games.

• The last time Maccabi were in this elite company, in 2004/05, they had the misfortune of sharing a group with three former winners: FC Bayern München, Juventus and AFC Ajax.

• They finished in fourth place but some consolation came at home with a win over Ajax and a draw with Juve.

• Maccabi's only previous trip to Portugal ended in a 4-1 defeat at Boavista FC in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup first round. That followed a 1-0 victory in the 'home' leg which was played in Sofia.

Coach and player links
• Miguel Layún scored twice in Mexico's 3-0 friendly win over an Israel team who included Eden Ben Basat, Tal Ben Haim I, Tal Ben Haim II, Yuval Spungin, Eran Zahavi, Gil Vermouth and Omri Ben Harush on 29 May 2014.

• Vincent Aboubakar's FC Lorient lost 2-0 away against Ben Basat's Stade Brestois 29 in Ligue 1 on 2 November 2012, the Israeli forward scoring the first goal.

• Ben Basat also scored in Israel's 3-3 Tel Aviv draw against Silvestre Varela's Portugal in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 22 March 2013.

• Maxi Pereira's SL Benfica lost 3-0 at Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC, for whom Zahavi scored twice, in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• André Silva scored in Portugal's 3-0 win over an Israel team, who included Sean Goldberg and Dan Glazer, in the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship group stage.

Match facts

Porto
• Danilo's next yellow card will incur a suspension.

• Porto are 15 games unbeaten in all competitions since a 6-1 defeat by Bayern in the second leg of their 2014/15 UEFA Champions League quarter-final.

• The Dragons have kept a clean sheet in each of their last 14 home Liga fixtures – a run stretching back to mid-December (0-2 v SL Benfica) – and are on a 19-match winning streak at the Estádio do Dragão in all competitions.

• André Silva sustained an ankle injury while playing for Porto's B side on 20 September and is likely to be out for two months.

• Pablo Osvaldo scored his first goal for Porto in the 4-0 Liga victory over Os Belenenses on 4 October.

• Maicon was substituted at half-time in that game with a thigh injury and is not expected to return until early November.

• Porto drew 1-1 in a friendly with second-tier FC Famalicão during the international break.

• Aboubakar and Yacine Brahimi are among the 37 nominees for the 2015 African Footballer of the Year award.

Maccabi
• Tal Ben Haim I's next yellow card will incur a suspension.

• The other Tel Ben Haim ended Saturday's 2-1 defeat of Maccabi Petach-Tikva in goal after Daniel Lifshitz was sent off with four minutes to go.

• Maccabi have only won three of their last seven fixtures in all competitions, suffering three losses.

• Slaviša Jokanović's men defeated Hapoel Akko FC 5-0 on 3 October – their biggest league victory since beating the same team, also 5-0, on 21 December 2013.

• Nosakhare Igiebor has missed the last four games with a knee injury and might require surgery. Dejan Radonjić (back) has not featured since matchday one. Right-backs Eli Dasa (hamstring) and Yuval Shpungin (sinus surgery) have been ruled out of the Porto game.

• Maccabi are the fifth Israeli side to reach the UEFA Champions League group stage; Maccabi Haifa FC (2009/10), Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (2010/11) and Maccabi themselves (2004/05) all lost their first three games; only Maccabi Haifa (2002/03) collected points in any of the first three matchdays.