Standard stand in Salzburg's path

R. Standard de Liège will look to stop the FC Salzburg juggernaut on matchday four as they seek a win to bring their UEFA Europa League Group C campaign to life.

Previous meetings
• Salzburg won 2-1 at home against Standard on matchday three – their first win in three home meetings with the club. They will now look to end a run of two straight defeats in Liege in the rematch.

• Previously, Tomislav Ivić's Standard eliminated Hans Backe's Salzburg from the third round of the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup, and Domenico D'Onofrio's Standard got the better of Huub Stevens' Salzburg in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 32.

• The teams for the sides' first encounter in Liege, a 3-1 win for the home side on 15 July 2000, were:
Standard: Runje, Ernst, Selymes, Van Buyten, Meyssen, Brocken, Pierre, Dragutinović (Oussalah 84), Lukunku, Yobo (El Yamani 46), Ciobotariu.
Salzburg: Sáfár, Jank, Pamminger (Kitzbichler73), Szewczyk, Struber (Karasek 58), Hobel (Sabitzer 65), Cárcamo, Aufhauser, Früstük, Silberberger, Laessig.

• For the most recent encounter at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne, a 3-2 Standard win on 18 February 2010, the teams were:
Standard: Bolat, Goreux, Victor Ramos, Defour, Mbokani (Traoré 90+1), De Camargo*, Mangala, Jovanović (Dalmat 90+3), Nicaise, Witsel, Pocognoli (Gershon 85).
Salzburg: Gustafsson*, Afolabi, Schwegler, Tchoyi, Schiemer*, Opdam, Ulmer*, Švento* (Wallner 84), Cziommer (Pokrivač 74), Janko (Nelisse 88), Sekagaya, Leitgeb*.

*registered to play in this season's UEFA Europa League.

Match background
• Standard's seven matches against Austrian clubs have ended W3 D2 L2 (W3 D0 L0 at home – W0 D2 L2 in Austria).

• Past meetings with Standard included, Salzburg's record in nine games against Belgian sides is W4 D2 L3 (W3 D2 L0 at home – W1 D0 L3 in Belgium).

• Since missing the cut on their UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stage debut in 2004/05, Standard have made it through both of their subsequent group stage campaigns at this level. They also notably reached the last eight in 2009/10, having transferred from the UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Prior to their 2-1 loss to Esbjerg fB on matchday one, Standard were unbeaten in ten European home games (W6 D4).

• Five clubs go into matchday four with 100% records: Salzburg, ACF Fiorentina, Eintracht Frankfurt, PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and Tottenham Hotspur FC. Salzburg are now on a five-game European winning streak.

• Salzburg competed in the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stages, making it through to the round of 32 – but no further – in 2009/10 and 2011/12.

Team facts
• Salzburg's Jonatan Soriano and Spurs' Jermain Defoe are the top scorers in the group stage with four each. Soriano's hat-trick against IF Elfsborg on matchday one was, at 35 minutes, the fourth fastest in the competition. Steven Gerrard's 13-minute treble for Liverpool FC against SSC Napoli in November 2010 remains the quickest.

• Salzburg midfielder Sadio Mané has been caught offside seven times in the first three matchdays – more than any other player in the group stage.

Coach information
• Guy Luzon left his native Israel to take over as Standard coach in summer 2013, having led his national team on home soil at the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Injury forced the nephew of Israel Football Association (IFA) president Avi Luzon to hang up his boots at 21, but he found his calling as a coach, famously leading Maccabi Petach-Tikva FC into the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage.

• Salzburg coach Roger Schmidt took charge of the club in June 2012. A midfielder in the lower leagues in his native Germany, he combined football with work as an apprentice toolmaker before studying mechanical engineering. He moved into coaching with Delbrücker SC and SC Preussen Münster, before a fifth-place finish in the 2. Bundesliga with SC Paderborn 07 in 2011/12 helped persuade Salzburg to hire him.