Sparta Prague vs Liverpool

In-form Liverpool take a trip to the epet ARENA to encounter Sparta Prague in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.

Sparta Prague performed a stunning second-leg comeback to crash Galatasaray out of the Europa League knockout playoff round, overhauling a 3-2 first-leg deficit with a superb 4-0 home victory. But after earning their first Europa League last-16 berth since 2015/16, the Czech heavyweights will have to punch above their weight to reach the quarter-finals. Sparta’s rotten run of just one win from their last 16 encounters against English opposition (D4, L11) paints a bleak picture. As if that’s not troubling enough, their defeat in Istanbul marked a 15th consecutive winless first-leg fixture in UEFA competition ties (D6, L9). However, Sparta boss Brian Priske will rely on Sparta’s dominant recent record on home turf, with his men winning four of their last five European fixtures in Prague (D1).

On the other hand, Liverpool skipped the playoff knockout round after finishing atop their Europa League group ahead of Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, Toulouse, and Rapid Wien. But the injury-troubled Reds head to the Czech capital amidst a disastrous record of no wins from their last 16 matches in a Europa League knockout setting (D5, L6). Though one of those draws came against Sparta in Prague in 2011, Liverpool eventually claimed a 1-0 victory at home to win the tie. Jurgen Klopp has set his sights on leading the Merseyside outfit to the only missing piece of silverware in his swansong season, which could form part of a historic quadruple. After winning the League Cup and moving atop the Premier League table, the visitors leave England on a six-game winning streak, bookended by a 1-0 league win at Nottingham Forest last weekend.