3 minutes The fourth leg of the quadruple is the UEFA Europa League and on Thursday they travel to Sparta Prague in the tournament’s round of 16. Here at betting.bet we’ll preview this tricky fixture in the Czech Republic, providing the latest match odds and free bets
In what is set to be Jurgen Klopp’s final season in charge, The Reds are eyeing up an unprecedented quadruple. The EFL Cup is already in the bag, Liverpool are top of the Premier League and through to the quarter-final of the FA Cup. The fourth leg of the quadruple is the UEFA Europa League and on Thursday they travel to Sparta Prague in the tournament’s round of 16. Here at betting.bet we’ll preview this tricky fixture in the Czech Republic, providing the latest match odds and free bets from our partners at Coral.
Sparta Prague’s home comforts
Sparta Prague finished second behind Rangers in Group C with 10 points from their 6 matches. However, their failure to win the group was by no means down to their home form. At the Letna Stadium, Sparta Prague took 7 points from a possible 9, recording wins over Aris Limassol (3-2) and Real Betis (1-0) either side of a goalless draw against Rangers.
It was also Sparta Prague’s home form that saw them successfully navigate their way through the play-offs. Having lost 3-2 away at Turkish giants, Galatasaray in their play-off first leg, Sparta Prague charged to a 4-1 second leg victory.
Domestically, Sparta Prague have won 11 and drawn 1 of their 12 home league games and currently sit four points clear at the Gambrinus Liga’s summit.
Lucky Liverpool?
Liverpool remain top of the Premier League but left it extremely late to edge past Nottingham Forest at the weekend. As the game looked set to end goalless, Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score a dramatic winner in the 99th minute of the match. The Reds are now unbeaten in six matches in all competitions.
In the Europa League, Liverpool topped Group E ahead of Toulouse after winning 4 of their 6 group games. However, whilst they retained a 100% record at Anfield they did lost 2 of their 3 away games in the group.
Betting tips
Given Liverpool’s growing injury list, a key Premier League fixture against Manchester City this coming weekend and Sparta Prague’s excellent home form, Thursday’s fixture will be anything but straightforward for Liverpool. Whilst we expect Liverpool to progress to the quarter-final over two legs we would not be surprised to see Jurgen Klopp’s side turned over on Thursday evening. A home win is huge at 27/10 whilst the Sparta Prague / Draw double chance is perhaps too good to turn down at 10/11.
You have to go back to August and the first leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifier against FC Copenhagen to find the only game this season where Sparta Prague have failed to score whilst they have kept just 2 clean sheets in 10 Europa League games so far. Both teams to score on Thursday is generously priced at 3/5.
Lukas Haraslin has scored in back-to-back league games for Sparta Prague and also scored their crucial third goal against Galatasaray in their play-off second leg. Haraslin is excellent value at 7/2 to score at any time against Liverpool whilst the 27-year-old is priced at 9/1 to score first.
Match odds
| Sparta Prague | Draw | Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
| 27/10 | 14/5 | 17/20 |
