Cheerleader after the important victory over Maccabi Netanya, Hapoel Tel Aviv arrives for another “game of the season” as part of its survival battle, as defined again in the Khodorov complex, and this time the opponent is the leader of the Premier League table, Maccabi Haifa, tonight (Wednesday, 20:45) at Bloomfield Stadium .
Ahead of the game against the Greens from Carmel, Nir Klinger practiced the team that defeated Netanya, except for two changes that are not yet closed. On defense he returned Eddie Gottlieb, who returned to full training after suffering from groin tenderness and has not played in the last two games, playing only if he feels one hundred percent good. If not, Iyad Abu Abid will continue as a brakeman alongside Sianda Kolo who is improving.
On the offensive, with or without the nerves of Shlomi Azulai on the bench after being replaced in Netanya, Klinger practiced Gil Yitzhak, although he may still leave the first in the 11 openers. Beyond them, the lineup is expected to remain the same. Corona patients – Raz Shlomo, Emanuel Boateng, Ofek Bitton and Shai Eisen – will continue to be absent.
“Following the period we are in and the spirit of the team that the new players brought with them, along with the players that were before, we get optimistic feelings about the future,” he said. Nir Klinger. “We have a super-difficult game ahead of us, but lately we are looking at ourselves first and want to produce the football we have been playing lately.
“It is true that we suffer from quite a few absences, but as in the game in Netanya and as in the previous games we will be overcome by a fighting spirit, much more ambitious football of the players who will develop. Players deserve a good word for the effort, motivation and desire to give of themselves. “Because we lack 6-7 players, they get it well and I applaud them through the meetings and through the media – because they deserve it.”
The coach added: “We define this game as the previous game as a season game for us and we will treat it as such. We will finish our preparation in another morning training, and we will arrive physically and mentally ready for the game.”
“We are coming to a very difficult game, perhaps the most difficult there is,” he added Happiness Davida. “I think Maccabi Haifa is in momentum and they have their battles this season, but we are also coming in positive momentum and we also have our battles.”
“The thing that will be most missing in this game is the crowd, which has not been with us for a year. Believes and hopes that in the run-up to the playoffs some of the crowd will return, be with us and help us. Prepare for the game properly, the professional team prepared us best .
Estimated composition: Ernestas Shtakus, Ben Bitton, Eddie Gottlieb (Iyad Abu Abid), Sianda Kolo, Danny Grupper, Shai Elias, Dan Eibinder, Omri Altman, Osher Davida, Lidor Cohen and Gil Yitzhak (Shlomi Azulai).