Hapoel Beer Sheva will host Hapoel Tel Aviv tonight (Monday, 20:30) at Toto Turner Stadium, but the club does not forget the previous meeting between the teams in Bloomfield, the one that marked the turning point in the ability of coach Eliniv Berda in the team.
Midfielder Ramzi Spuri, one of the two main enforcers in Beer Sheva, will be absent from the match due to injury.
The third-best attack in the league, with 34 goals, this season relies more than anything else on Rotem Hatuel and Spuri.
The former with nine goals and two assists, and the latter with six possessions and two assists, are together responsible for 55 percent of Hapoel Beer Sheva's goals.
How significant these two are, will be evidenced by the following statistic: Shafi Sulaimanov is next after them in terms of offensive contribution, with four goals and four assists.
All his numbers were brought by the Russian midfielder when at least one of the two, Spori or Hatuel, is on the grass.
Shafi Sulaimanov misses a penalty against Maccabi Haifa.
Need Spuri and Hatuel next to him, photo: Alan Shiver
"Ramsey is responsible for a lot of things in the attacking game, through moving the ball and of course his expertise in stationary situations," they said in the capital of the Negev.
"He is a key player for us. Rotem Hatuel is also having an excellent season, and we should be happy to have two such players in the team."
A goal in all three situations
Spuri and Hatuel did not start in the last league game against Maccabi Haifa, which ended in a loss for the Reds, each for their own reasons, but the fact is clear to everyone: without them, Beer Sheva did not score this season, for the first time after 16 rounds in the league.
Reports from statistics websites indicate an amazing figure: Hapoel Beer Sheva's chance of scoring when Sfori and Hatuel are on the pitch is one in three situations. Without them, the ratio drops to one in seven.
Rotem Hatuel.
Tremendous output this season, photo: Danny Maron
When you look at the contribution of the other players in the squad, you can understand the differences.
Three players in Be'er Sheva with two goals each (Tomer Hamed, Shagib Yehezkel and Adrian and the injured Fawn), compared to eight players with one goal each.
When Barda built his squad, the expectation was for much more significant numbers from players such as Tomer Hamed and Estrit Salmani (the latter scored a single goal in the previous game in Bloomfield against Hapoel Tel Aviv).
Salmani arrived in the capital of the Negev as the first striker, and started six times in the team.
Hatuel started only four times in the 11, but his output is nine times as many (Hatuel has 14 appearances in total, Salmani has nine).
Be'er Sheva are very satisfied with the output of their two central attacking players, but know that in order to reach the titles - more numbers are needed from the other players who complete the front.
Rotem Hatuel is expected to start tonight against Hapoel, but Spuri remains out of the squad, and the question is who will step into his shoes.
Breda would be happy to have someone fill the void.
Ramsey Spurry.
Will Beer Sheva manage without him?
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us