Hapoel Be'er Sheva will fight for a place in the Europa Conference League playoff round on Thursday, when they host Austria Vienna in the final round of games in Group C.
The home side trail second-placed Lech Poznan by two points, meaning they require a victory in their game and a slip from the Polish outfit, while their visitors are out of contention having only managed two points in five matches.
Match preview
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After progressing through three rounds of qualifying, Hapoel Be'er Sheva reached the Europa Conference League group stage and began with a goalless draw against Austria Vienna, before falling to a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of a Villarreal side heavily fancied to dominate the group.
Now five games in, the Camels are still yet to post a group victory but have also avoided defeat since that Villarreal contest, firstly playing out a goalless stalemate away at Lech Poznan before drawing 1-1 at home in their second meeting, with Filip Szymczak drawing their visitors level after Tomer Hemed had opened the scoring.
They then faced the tough test of a trip to Villarreal most recently and were able to leave with a commendable point, despite going 2-1 down heading into the final stages after Hemed opened the scoring, as Sagiv Yehezkel salvaged a 2-2 draw with a 79th-minute equaliser.
The Camels now head into their final match on the back of an important domestic victory, having closed the gap to second-placed Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Israeli Premier League to two points with a 2-0 triumph at the weekend, and Elyaniv Barda's side will know that only a win will suffice if they are to stand a chance of remaining in the competition.
The lack of a win in their five outings sees Hapoel Be'er Sheva two points worse off than Lech Poznan, meaning they need a victory and likely for the Polish outfit to lose their contest against Villarreal, unless they are able to close a gap of three in goal difference and the other game in the group ends in a draw.
Austria Vienna, meanwhile, make the trip to Israel without any hope of progressing, having also failed to secure a single three-point haul in five attempts thus far.
Unlike their opponents, however, Die Veilchen have suffered three defeats, with all of those coming consecutively after the opening-day goalless draw with Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
A 4-1 beating away at Lech Poznan followed that result before they were thrashed 5-0 away at Villarreal, with Jose Luis Morales hitting a late hat-trick alongside goals from Alex Baena and Arnaut Danjuma.
Hoping to bounce back from those losses and stay in the fight, Manfred Schmid's side then hosted Villarreal in the return fixture and were only denied a share of the spoils by a late Nicolas Jackson winner, before taking on Lech Poznan in a game they needed to win to avoid falling out of reach of second spot.
While the Austrian outfit were able to stop their losing run, they did not manage to secure all three points, with the contest ending in a 1-1 draw thanks to Can Keles's 69th-minute equaliser.
Now sitting on just two points, and on the back of a dramatic late 2-1 win against Altach in the Austrian Bundesliga, Schmid's side will look to end their continental campaign on a high with an away triumph in Israel.
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Team News
Rotem Hatuel should feature for Hapoel Be'er Sheva from the outset on Thursday after only appearing from the bench in the draw with Villarreal, with the Argentinian having hit the net nine times in all competitions so far this season, including in each of their last four league outings.
He will likely support former Brighton & Hove Albion man Tomer Hemed, who should keep his place at the top end of the pitch with two goals to his name in the group stage.
Midfielder Shay Elias is out of contention through suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards in the group stage, meaning Mariano Bareiro could come in to join Eden Shamir in the engine room, while centre-back Miguel Vitor has been a mainstay for his side in the Conference League and will keep his place alongside Eyad Abu Abaid in the middle of the back four.
Attacking midfielder Dominik Fitz will remain a key man going forward for the visitors, having taken his tally to eight goals for the season in all competitions with the decisive brace in their win over Altach last time out, including a 93rd-minute winner.
Fellow threat Andreas Gruber continues to miss out through injury, meaning more responsibility will fall on winger Can Keles, who hit their equaliser against Lech Poznan in the last group game.
Like his counterpart Vitor, centre-back Lucas Galvao has featured in every minute of group-stage action this far, as has Schalke loanee Reinhold Ranftl at right-back, and they will again play key roles in the defence.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva possible starting lineup:
Glazer; Yehezkel, Abaid, Vitor, Lopes; Yosefi, Bareiro, Shamir, Micha; Hatuel, Hemed
Austria Vienna possible starting lineup:
Fruchtl; Ranftl, Galvao, Meisl, Da Graca; Braunoder, Fischer; Keles, Fitz, Polster; Dovedan
We say: Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2-1 Austria Vienna
With far more to play for and a more impressive record on the continent this season, we back Hapoel Be'er Sheva to do their part and take a first three-point haul on Thursday, while hoping Lech Poznan slip up to allow them to take second spot.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
