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Europa League: Sparta Prague vs. Liverpool: Liverpool will resume their Europa League duties on Thursday night when they travel to Sparta Prague’s epet Arena for the opening leg of their last-16 match.
The Reds won Group E and avoided the knockout stages of the playoffs, but Brian Priske’s team had to stage an incredible comeback against Galatasaray, the Champions League losers.
Sparta Prague had already experienced defeat at the hands of Copenhagen in the preliminary Champions League rounds and had to overcome Dinamo Zagreb in the last Europa League qualifying round in order to advance to the group stage, so their two-leg wins in the 2023–24 Europa League were nothing new.
After earning four points from their two Champions League matches against Manchester United, Rangers, Sparta, and Real Betis were all within two points of each other in Group C.
The Czech Fortuna Liga champions had to settle for a runners-up spot, setting up a difficult matchup with Galatasaray.
Priske’s team did not have a memorable stopover in Turkey as they lost 3-2 in the first leg. However, when the second leg was deadlocked at one goal apiece, Sparta Prague produced an incredible 20-minute burst of goal scoring that resulted in a thrilling 4-1 victory on the night and a 6-4 aggregate victory.
Priske’s team is aiming to advance to the Europa League quarter finals for the second time under its current name. Their previous run ended in the last eight, against Villarreal.
Prior to their match against Liverpool, Priske’s team faced Slavia Prague, whom they defeated in extra time during the Czech Cup, and then drew 0-0 in league play.
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The dull draw served as sufficient to preserve the defending champions four points ahead of their opponents in the Fortuna Liga rankings. They haven’t lost at home in 15 games since their Champions League qualifying loss to Copenhagen in August.
The Maroons have triumphed in just one of Sparta’s previous sixteen European meetings with English sides, though, and Liverpool travels to the Czech Republic having already broken their road curse this month—albeit in extremely heated conditions at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.
Thanks to the latest winning goal in the competition, scored by Darwin Nunez in the 99th minute, Jurgen Klopp’s team secured their first-ever Premier League victory away to the Tricky Trees, taking advantage of an incorrect drop-ball decision as per the rules of the game. This victory kept them in control of their quadruple destiny.
Liverpool, who have already won the EFL Cup and will face Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter final, resume their Europa League journey after defeating Toulouse, Union SG, and LASK Linz to take first place in Group E as predicted.
They are still one point ahead of Manchester City, having been on the right side of that contentious call.
Despite suffering away losses to Toulouse and Union SG, the Merseyside giants did not completely destroy the competition as some may have assumed. In fact, they have remarkably failed to win any of their last 11 away Europa League knockout games; their last victims were the now-defunct Romanian club Unirea Urziceni în 2009–2010.
Although their injury list may imply otherwise, Liverpool is in strong form after a run of six wins in all competitions. However, on their lone prior trip to Sparta, during the 2010–11 final 32, the Reds were stifled in a goalless draw.
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Sparta Prague Europa League form:
D L W W L W
Sparta Prague form (all competitions):
W L W W W D
Liverpool Europa League form:
W W W L W L
Liverpool form (all competitions):
W W W W W W
After missing the second-leg victory over Galatasaray due to suspension, three Sparta Prague players are now able to participate in the Europa League again: left-back Matej Rynes, captain Ladislav Krejci, and top assister Veljko Birmancevic.
Unfortunately, a season-ending injury kept right-back Andreas Vindheim out of the hosts’ Europa League knockout lineup, and Priske was forced to substitute centre-back Filip Panak at halftime of the weekend’s draw with Slavia Prague.
Although Panak’s status is currently unknown, Asger Sorensen and Patrik Vydra are ready to step in and cover defence, with 10-goal scorer Jan Kuchta leading the line. Kuchta has scored in his previous three Europa League games.
In the close victory over Nottingham Forest, Liverpool—who had no players suspended or on the verge of suspension—saw a quadruple fitness boost when players Andrew Robertson, Wataru Endo, Nunez, and Dominik Szoboszlai were all deemed fit to participate.
Joel Matip (knee), Ben Doak (knee), Diogo Jota (knee), Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee), Thiago Alcantara (muscle), Curtis Jones (shin), Alisson Becker (hamstring), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), and Ryan Gravenberch (ankle) are all unlikely to be fit for the first leg, so the medical staff is still working extra hours.
victim’s thighs With Manchester City coming up this weekend, Klopp should be protecting his top player this week. Mohamed Salah should be the next to leave the infirmary and is expected to resume training this week.
Sparta Prague possible starting lineup:
Vindahl; Vitik, Krejci, Sorensen; Preciado, Kairinen, Laci, Rynes; Birmancevic, Kuchta, Haraslin
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Gomez, Quansah, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; McConnell, Endo, Szoboszlai; Elliott, Gakpo, Koumas
Our prediction for this match 1-1 draw or 2-1 won by liverpool
