Lokeren v Legia background
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Article summary
KSC Lokeren OV will hope home form counts for something as they seek a win against Legia Warszawa to keep their hopes alive of qualifying from Group L.
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KSC Lokeren OV know that anything but victory against Group L leaders Legia Warszawa will likely spell the end of their UEFA Europa League round of 32 hopes.
Form guide
• Group stage debutants Lokeren lost 1-0 in Warsaw on matchday one and have drawn their only previous two games in Poland.
• Lokeren are unbeaten in four European home matches (W3 D1); Legia are on a seven-game winning streak in the UEFA Europa League, qualifying included.
• Legia and FC Dinamo Moskva are the only sides to have won all four of their group stage fixtures this season. Legia have thus won four times as many matches as they did in last season's group stage.
Trivia and links
• Legia have committed more fouls than any other side in the group stage – 81, nine more than any other team – with Ondrej Duda topping the competition's indiscipline rankings with 18 fouls. Team-mate Michał Żyro is in second place on 14 fouls, level with former Legia player Artur Jędrzejczyk of FC Krasnodar.
• Lokeren winger Besart Abdurahimi was a trainee at NK Zagreb while Legia midfielder Ivica Vrdoljak was a first-team player there.
• Legia striker Orlando Sá and Lokeren left-back Arthur Henrique were briefly team-mates at CD Nacional in early 2011 while both players were out on loan.
• Legia's dream is to feature in the UEFA Europa League final in their home city; the tournament will conclude at the National Stadium, Warsaw, on 27 May 2015.
The coaches
• Lokeren coach since 2010, Peter Maes spent a big chunk of the 1990s as a back-up goalkeeper for RSC Anderlecht, later becoming No1 at KSK Beveren and R. Standard de Liège. He made his name as a coach by leading KV Mechelen back into the top division in 2006/07.
• Henning Berg took charge of Legia at the start of 2014. The former Blackburn Rovers FC, Manchester United FC and Rangers FC defender was capped 100 times by Norway. As a coach, he has held the reins at FK Lyn, Lillestrøm SK and – for just 57 days – Blackburn.
