Beşiktaş look to make home advantage count

Beşiktaş JK will look to get off on the right foot in UEFA Europa League Group E as they take on a Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC side looking to improve a poor run of form away from home in Europe.

Previous meetings
• The two teams are meeting for the first time in Europe.

• Beşiktaş's only experience of Israeli opposition came in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, when they were eliminated by Hapoel Haifa FC on goal difference after following up a 1-1 home draw with a goalless tie in Israel.

• Maccabi have not won in four games against Turkish clubs, possessing a record which reads W0 D2 L2. They drew 1-1 against Fenerbahçe SK on their first visit to Turkey in a 1996/97 UEFA Champions League qualifier, then lost 3-1 at Kayseri Erciyesspor in the second qualifying round of the 2007/08 UEFA Cup.

Match background
• Beşiktaş have been alternating home wins and home defeats for their last five European games, and since they beat FC Alania Vladikavkaz 3-0 in the UEFA Europa League play-offs, they are due a defeat if that pattern is to continue.

•Maccabi have won only one of their last 12 European away outings (2-0 at FK Željezničar in this season's third qualifying round), losing ten of the remaining 11.

Team facts
• Beşiktaş's Czech defender and midfielder Tomáš Sivok celebrates his 28th birthday on the day of the match. He also played in a European game on his 21st birthday in 2004, when his AC Sparta Praha side lost a UEFA Champions League group stage fixture 1-0 at Fenerbahçe.

• Portuguese coach Carlos Carvalhal has been put in temporary command at Beşiktaş with Tayfur Havutçu relieved of his duties for the moment. He has yet to lose in eight European home games as a coach (six wins, two draws) having led Leixões SC, SC Braga and, last season, Sporting Clube de Portugal in UEFA fixtures.

• Maccabi boss Motti Iwanir spent much of his playing career at the club, leaving Israel only once for a spell with Dutch side Roda JC. He was coach of Israel's Under-17 and then U21 teams before taking charge of his old side in 2011.