Twente looking to shoot down Sheriff

Beaten at home by Fenerbahçe SK on Matchday 2, FC Sheriff will look to reignite their UEFA Europa League fire against FC Twente, although the Dutch side come to Moldova boasting impressive recent form on their travels.

Previous meetings
• Sheriff and Twente have never met before and this is also the Moldovan champions' first game against a Dutch outfit. Likewise, Twente have never faced a club from the former Soviet republic.

Match background
• Sheriff are without a win or a goal in their last three European home fixtures, having collected a scoreless draw against SK Slavia Praha before losses to Olympiacos FC and Fenerbahçe.

• Twente are unbeaten in their last four European away games – two wins and two draws – and in that run they have scored three goals and conceded just one.

Team facts
• Sheriff are coached by Belarussian trainer Leonid Kuchuk, who has led the club to the last six of their run of nine straight Moldovan titles since stepping up from his position as youth-team boss in January 2004. That is the longest current winning streak in European football. "The secret of our success is simple," Kuchuk has said. "Every draw for us is like a defeat and every defeat is like a natural disaster."

• The coach's son, Aleksei, is an important figure in the Sheriff attack.

• Twente coach Steve McClaren was a UEFA Cup runner-up as Middlesbrough FC manager in 2005/06. Once Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United FC, his reputation was undermined by a disappointing spell as England manager when his team missed out on UEFA EURO 2008™. However, he demonstrated his coaching acumen when Twente finished second in the Eredivisie last season, his first in the Netherlands.

• Sheriff's Vladimir Branković and Twente's Slobodan Rajković were team-mates at Serbian club OFK Beograd in the 2004/05 season.

• Moldova and the Netherlands' Under-21 sides met in qualifying for the 2004 UEFA European U21 Championship, drawing 2-2 in Chisinau and 0-0 in Helmond. Sheriff's Andrei Corneencov featured in both games.

• Twente striker Blaise Nkufo scored Switzerland's first goal in a 2-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Moldova in Geneva on 1 April 2009. Sheriff's Stanislav Namaşco was in goal for the visitors. Both players were also involved as the Swiss won by the same margin in the earlier fixture in Chisinau on 28 March 2009.

• The two sides meet again in the Netherlands on 5 November for Matchday 4.