Eintracht expectant as Maccabi Tel-Aviv pay visit

Eintracht Frankfurt take on their main rivals for top spot in UEFA Europa League Group F with Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC looking to become the first Israeli club to avoid defeat on a trip to Germany.

Previous meetings
• This is the sides' first UEFA competition encounter and Eintracht's first meeting with an Israeli club.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv's record in four games against German clubs is W0 D1 L3 (W0 D1 L1 at home – W0 D0 L2 in Germany). They have lost their last three meetings with Bundesliga opponents but made a breakthrough of sorts in the most recent of those fixtures, with Baruch Dego's penalty in a 5-1 defeat against FC Bayern München in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage their first goal against a German side.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv could become the first Israeli team to avoid defeat in a UEFA club competition game in Germany; all seven previous visits for Israeli outfits have ended in home wins.

Match background
• Back in Europe for the first time since failing to make it through the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage, Eintracht are unbeaten in seven continental fixtures – three draws followed by four wins, with all of those victories coming this season.

• After beating FC Girondins de Bordeaux on matchday one and APOEL FC on matchday two, Eintracht could complete a hat-trick of 3-0 Group F victories against Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv's 2-1 win at Bordeaux on matchday two was their first UEFA Europa League group stage win in eight attempts. With four points from their first two fixtures they have already doubled the total they racked up in their group stage debut in 2011/12.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv were handed a bye in the UEFA Europa League play-offs after their opponents, PAOK FC, took the place of excluded FC Metalist Kharkiv in the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

Team facts
• Eintracht are one of five sides who have yet to concede in this season's group stage along with Swansea City AFC, PFC Ludogorets Razgrad, FC Kuban Krasnodar and Tottenham Hotspur FC.

• Eintracht's Václav Kadlec scored the first goal of the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage, a calm finish from inside the area four minutes into his side's 3-0 matchday one win against Bordeaux.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv are the most southerly side in this season's competition, with Tromsø IL pushing the competition's northern frontier inside the Arctic Circle – 4,299km separate the two clubs.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Group F rivals APOEL are among nine domestic champions in this season's group stage along with NK Maribor (Slovenia), FC Sheriff (Moldova), PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria), Legia Warszawa (Poland), FC Shakhter Karagandy (Kazakhstan), GNK Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) and IF Elfsborg (Sweden).

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv midfielder Gal Alberman has some Bundesliga experience, having represented VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach from 2008 to 2010.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv's Swedish forward Rade Prica has also played in Germany, scoring 20 goals in 113 league games for FC Hansa Rostock between 2002 and 2006.

Coach information
• Hired in May 2011, Armin Veh led Eintracht to promotion in his first season in charge and into Europe as sixth-place finishers in his second. As a midfielder, he was in the VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach squad that lost to Eintracht in the 1980 UEFA Cup final, before a broken leg ended his career. As a coach, he won the 2006/07 German title at VfB Stuttgart prior to less successful spells with VfL Wolfsburg and Hamburger SV.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv's Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa famously won back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles with different clubs – Juventus (1995/96) and Borussia Dortmund (1996/97). The defensive midfielder also reached the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2000 with Portugal. He coached a series of English league clubs before leading Videoton FC in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League, and was hired as Maccabi coach in June 2013.