Vorskla seek salvation against Standard
Friday, October 21, 2011
Article summary
FC Vorskla Poltava will need to find some attacking bite if they are to rescue their UEFA Europa League campaign as R. Standard de Liège visit Group B's bottom side.
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FC Vorskla Poltava will need to find some attacking bite if they are to rescue their UEFA Europa League campaign as R. Standard de Liège visit Group B's bottom side.
Previous meetings
• The teams drew 0-0 as they met for the first time in UEFA competition on 20 October, in what was Standard's debut contest against a Ukrainian side.
• Standard dominated the matchday three encounter at Maurice Dufrasne, but Serhiy Dolganskiy in the Vorskla goal made several saves to earn his side their first group stage point.
• Vorskla met Standard's Belgian rivals RSC Anderlecht in the second qualifying round of the 1997/98 UEFA Cup, losing both legs by the same 2-0 scoreline.
Match background
• A 2-1 defeat by Hannover 96 on matchday two ended Vorskla's four-game unbeaten run at home in Europe, which included three wins.
• Standard's record in their last 11 European away games is W2 D3 L6. Both of those wins were 3-1 scorelines: at Panathinaikos FC in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 16, and at Helsingborgs IF in this season's UEFA Europa League play-offs.
Team facts
• Standard are the only side who have yet to concede in this season's group stage.
• Vorskla, AEK Larnaca FC, ŠK Slovan Bratislava and FC Steaua Bucureşti are the lowest scoring teams in the group stage, with one goal each going into matchday four.
• Vorskla midfielder Roman Bezus was fouled 16 times during the first three matchdays – more than any other player in the competition. However, he will miss this game through suspension.
• Standard's only playing connection with Ukraine is former midfielder Serhiy Kovalenko, who played for the club from 2004 to 2007, scoring five goals in 44 appearances.
• Standard coach José Riga is competing in Europe for the first time. Born in Liege, he previously served as the club's joint-coach, alongside his predecessor Dominique D'Onofrio (from 2003 to 2005). Since then, he has undertaken roles in sole command of RAEC Mons (2005-08) and RCS Visé (2008-11), before returning to Standard in July 2011.
• Vorskla boss Mykola Pavlov won a Ukrainian title as FC Dynamo Kyiv coach in 1995/96, and guided both FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and FC Illychivets Mariupil in European games.
