FCK look for chinks in Hannover armour

FC København will look to extend an eight-game unbeaten home run in UEFA group stage matches as they host a Hannover 96 side who have yet to lose a contest in this competition.

Previous meetings
• The teams drew 2-2 when they met for the first time on 20 October, in what was Hannover's first UEFA game against a Danish side.

• Dame N'Doye (67) cancelled out a first-half opener from Hannover's Christian Pander (29), but Sergio Pinto (81) looked to have won the game for the hosts until substitute César Santin (89) levelled at the death.

• Including their matchday three game against Hannover, FCK's seven games against German sides ended W1 D2 L4 (W1 D0 L3 at home).

• Hannover beat a Danish side, B1909 Odense, 3-2 at home and 1-0 away in the 1968/69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the non-UEFA affiliated predecessor of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League.

• The clubs that merged to form FCK both played German teams in UEFA competition. Kjøbenhavns BK took on FC Schalke 04 in the preliminary round of the 1958/59 European Champion Clubs' Cup, winning 3-0 at home, losing 5-2 in Gelsenkirchen and then going down 3-1 in a replay at the Diekman Stadion in Enschede, the Netherlands.

• B 1903 København, meanwhile, lost 2-0 away and 3-2 at home against 1. FC Köln in the 1975/76 UEFA Cup first round. However, they eliminated FC Bayern München in a 1991/92 UEFA Cup second round tie, beating them 6-2 at home and losing 1-0 away.

Match background
• FCK have won five and drawn three during an eight-game unbeaten home run in UEFA group stage games. The spell includes an impressive 1-1 draw against FC Barcelona in last season's UEFA Champions League.

• Hannover's 2-1 win at FC Vorskla Poltava on matchday two was their first victory on the road in UEFA competition.

• Hannover are the only team in this season's group stage who have never lost a UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League game; this is their sixth appearance in the competition.

Team facts 
• FCK's first goal against Hannover on matchday three was their 200th in UEFA club competition, in what was their 135th UEFA game.

• All three of FCK's group stage goals this season have been scored in the second half.

• Hannover coach Mirko Slomka led the club he had previously served as a player and assistant coach into Europe with a club record fourth-placed Bundesliga finish in his first season in charge.

• Slomka enjoyed success in the 2005/06 edition of the competition. He led Schalke from the round of 32 to the semi-finals, before succumbing to a 1-0 aggregate defeat by Sevilla FC, after replacing Ralf Rangnick as coach following the group stage.

• Roland Nilsson replaced Ståle Solbakken at the FCK helm this year, after winning the 2010 Swedish title with Malmö FF. This is his first European season as a coach, but the former Swedish international defender has extensive European experience, having been capped 116 times by his country.

• Nilsson twice took on Bayern in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League with Helsingborgs IF, losing 3-1 at home and drawing 0-0 in Germany.

• Nilsson played 90 minutes for hosts Sweden in the EURO '92 semi-final, his side lost 3-2 to eventual runners-up Germany.

• FCK's Christian Grindheim plays for the Norwegian national team alongside København's Mohammed Abdellaoue and Henning Hauger.