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Three years ago, for the first time in history, Hapoel Tel Aviv took the lead from Maccabi Tel Aviv in all time victories in the Tel Aviv Derby. Tonight could be the night for the scales to be balanced once again

1 – One other Derby was played on the 13th of May, in the last match of the 1960/61 season which saw Hapoel finish second and Maccabi fourth. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, the Maccabi goal came from midfielder Nissim Bachar.

2 – In two previous Derby matches Maccabi scored in the first minute of the game, midfielder Eli Biton in the 2003/4 season and striker Itzhak Nahcmias in 1956/57. In both instances Maccabi won the match 2-0.

3 – If Maccabi win tonight it will be their third successive Derby win in the league this season. The last time this happened was in the 2003/4 season, with the score lines 0-2, 3-0 and 0-1.

4 – In the last four years the final Derby of the season ended in a draw. The 51 draws in the Tel Aviv Derby all told, 36% of all the Derby matches ever played, is the highest percentage of draws played out by any of the 43 sets of opponents in the league that have met in 75 or more league encounters.

5 – Five times Maccabi have won the Derby after Hapoel had taken the lead, the last time in the 2007/8 season. Hapoel Tel Aviv have accomplished that feat a total of four times in the history of Derby play.

7 – The longest run of consecutive victories by Maccabi over Hapoel is seven, between 1991 and 1994.  Hapoel's longest consecutive run of victories is three.

10 – Only three players have ever played in more than 10 Derby matches without a loss – midfielder Itzik Zohar (14 for Maccabi), striker Meir Melika (12 for Maccabi) and midfielder Eran Zahavi (11 for both clubs).

22 – If Maccabi win tonight the distance between the two clubs in the table will rise to 22 points with one match left to play in the season. Only three times in their history have Maccabi led Hapoel by such a large margin at the end of the season: In the '91/'92 and '93/'94  seasons by 34 points, and in the '92/'93 season by 24 points.

45 – Again, if Maccabi win tonight the scales of league victories between the two clubs will have levelled out at 45 wins each. After Maccabi had held on to the advantage from the time of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 (and peaked at 10 halfway through the 1990's), Hapoel took the lead in the 2009/2010 season, 42 to 41, and has been in front ever since.  

Let's finish off with one anecdote: Despite the fact that Bloomfield Stadium is the venue for both of these clubs' home matches, the designated home side advantage is still clearly in evidence in Derby match results. With Maccabi as host they've won 27, drawn 26 and lost 13 times. With Hapoel as host the positive results are similar: 32 wins, 25 draws and 17 losses. And who says all of you devoted fans don't make a difference! 

Courtesy of Yaron Mishal