Sparta Prague vs Liverpool preview, match details, team news and predicted score

Liverpool kick start their Europa League round of 16 campaign with a trip to the Czech Republic to face the Czech League Champions, Sparta Prague at epet Arena.

The Reds qualified automatically to the round of 16 after finishing top of Group E ahead of Toulouse, Union SG and LASK Linz. Sparta on the other hand had to stage a memorable comeback against Galatasaray. Brian Priske’s side lost the first leg at

A late Mauro Icardi’s goal secured a dramatic first-leg victory for Cimbom at RAMS Park but a completely dominant display from Brian Priske’s side saw a complete turnaround with the Czech side winning 4-1 and 6-4 on aggregate.

Sparta will now hope to extend their impressive run of form at home to secure their first qualification to the Europa League quarter-finals since the 2015-16 season where they lost to Villarreal.

They enter this game at the back of two successive matches against bitter rivals, Slavia Prague, emerging victorious in the first match while playing out a 0:0 stalemate in the domestic League, extending their stay at the top of the Fortuna Liga standings to four points.

For the Reds, a late controversial goal ensured Liverpool’s first-ever victory at the City Ground. A 99th-minute Darwin Nunez strike from what looked to be an incorrect drop-ball decision according to the rules of the game extended Liverpool’s winning run to six games.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are fully on course for the quadruple. The Reds have already secured the Carabao Cup after a 118th-minute header from Virgil Van Dijk put Chelsea to the sword to secure the trophy at Wembley Stadium.

They also defeated Southampton to progress to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup while also staying at the cusp of the Premier League table with one point against Manchester City in second place.

Winning the Europa League could be the perfect send-off for Klopp, whose first final at the club was in the Europa League with his side losing 3:1 to perennial winners, Sevilla. They would savour the chance of handling Klopp the only remaining silverware he has not won during his spell at Merseyside.

A title-deciding, top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City is sandwiched in between Liverpool’s two-legged clash with Sparta Prague, making it a more daunting task for the Reds as they will hope that their best players don’t suffer fatigue.

They now face Sparta who are beyond capable of pushing Liverpool to the limits. The 13-time Czech League champions are embarking on a 16-game unbeaten streak at home since the Champions League qualification loss to Cophenaghen in August last year,

Sparta have also emerged victorious in 16 of their last 18 matches across all competitions while also keeping nine clean sheets in the process, making it a tough test for Liverpool.

However, the Reds are entering this game at the back of breaking Forest’s unbeaten home streak against Liverpool and could be set to break Sparta’s unbeaten home streak on Thursday.

Sparta Prague v Liverpool match details 

Location: Prague, Czech Republic

Stadium: epet Arena

Date: Thursday 7 March

Kick-off time: 17:45 GMT / 12:45 ET / 09:45 PT

Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez

VAR: Juan Martinez Munuera

Tickets: Fans can buy Europa League tickets through the Liverpool website or via trusted online resellers such as seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head 

• Liverpool are on a six-game winning streak

• The last time these two sides met was in the 2010-11 Europa League knockout stage with Liverpool advancing to the next stage with a 1:0 aggregate score.

• Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in their last three games across all competitions

• The Reds are winless in their last 11 Europa League knockout away matches

• Sparta have emerged victorious in only one of their last 16 European matches against English teams, with their only victory coming against Southampton.

• The Czech side have won 16 of their last 18 matches across all competitions while keeping clean sheets in nine of those fixtures.

• The Železná Sparta are unbeaten in their last 16 matches at the ebet Arena.

• Sparta are yet to concede multiple goals at home in a competitive match since September last year.

Team News

For Sparta, the trio of Ladislav Krejci, Veljko Birmancevic and Matej Runes will be available to face Liverpool after missing the game against Galatasaray due to suspensions.

Right-back, Andreas Vindheim is facing a season-ending injury and was left out of the squad for Sparta’s Europa League knockout stages.

Filip Panak was taken off at half-time in the domestic clash with Slavia and his availability for the game is unclear.

For Liverpool, no player is currently facing any suspension in the Europa League. The quartet of Nunez, Dominik Szoboszlai, Andrew Robertson and Wataru Endo were all declared fit in their victory over Forest last weekend in a boost to Klopp’s side.

However, Joel Matip, Ben Doak, Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all out of the fixture with knee injuries. Thiago Alcantara, Curtis and goalkeeper, Alisson Becker are all out with muscle, shin and hamstring injuries respectively.

The duo of Stefan Bajcetic and Ryan Gravenberch are also out of the first-leg clash with a calf and ankle injury respectively.

Mohamed Salah is expected to feature in training this week but it is unclear if Klopp would risk him in the game against Sparta especially with the title-deciding game against City coming up next.

Predicted line-ups

Sparta Prague predicted starting lineup:

Vindahl; Vitik, Krejci, Sorensen; Preciado, Kairinen, Laci, Rynes; Birmancevic, Kuchta, Haraslin

Liverpool predicted starting lineup:

Kelleher; Gomez, Quansah, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; McConnell, Endo, Szoboszlai; Elliott, Gakpo, Nunez

Prediction 

With Sparta’s impressive home record and terrifying home crowd serving as a boost to the Czech champions, Liverpool would be worried about their not-so-good away record in the Europa League knockout stages.

Sparta are lethal upfront and are also capable of mounting an upset against a Liverpool side that have already lost away games to Toulouse and Union SG.

However, Liverpool are on a six-game winning streak and with the return of key players like Wataru and Endo, the Reds might savour the chance of leaving ebet Arena with at least a draw.