Viduka a marked man

Mark Viduka will be a marked man when Leeds bid to revive their season with a UEFA Cup triumph over Hapoel Tel-Aviv tomorrow.

Leeds face the Israelis in the first leg of the second round at Elland Road on the back of a miserable domestic run which has seen them slip to 12th in the Premiership, the club’s lowest league position for 21 months.

Manager Terry Venables’ side have taken just two points from the last five matches and that is hardly the form needed to tackle Tel-Aviv who last season reached the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup, beating Chelsea 3-1 on aggregate in the second round.

Viduka is seen as the main threat, although the Australia international had been on the bench for a run of three games prior to his return in Saturday’s ill-tempered 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough.

In scoring the opener with a penalty Viduka’s netted his first since September 11 and his fourth of the season, but Hapoel captain Shimon Gershon is determined to keep the striker quiet.

Gershon, who was linked with Blackburn during the summer, said: “I played against Viduka three seasons ago when we played Celtic in the UEFA Cup.

“He didn’t score then and I hope he will not score again. But Leeds is not only Viduka as they have a lot of talent on their side which is full of internationals.

“Defensively they have Danny Mills and Ian Harte, in midfield Lee Bowyer and Nick Barmby, while up front they have Harry Kewell, Alan Smith and Viduka so it will be far from easy.

“They are also a powerful side so I’m expecting an interesting encounter.”

Leeds have the advantage as Tel-Aviv are no longer allowed to play their home games in Israel due to security concerns, meaning the second leg in a fortnight’s time will be played at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence.

Tel-Aviv, though, have scored four goals in each of their away matches so far this season, beating Albania’s KS Partizani 4-1 and Austria’s Karnten 4-0 on their travels in the qualifying and first rounds respectively.

Midfielder Yossi Abuksis has warned Leeds his side will be giving everything in the first leg as he said: “Leeds are a very well prepared team.

“They’ve done their homework about us and know exactly where our strengths lie. We are expecting a similar game to the two matches we played against Chelsea.

“We know we will have to give 110% – in discipline, in physical commitment and in teamwork – in order to come away with a decent result.

“There is no question of hoping for a draw to take with us to the home leg because we will be travelling to Florence, not playing in Tel Aviv.”