Slavia Prague host Bayer Leverkusen in Group C of the 2020-21 Europa League, with the hosts looking to get themselves off the mark in this competition having lost 3-1 at Israeli outfit Hapoel Beer-Sheva last week.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, were hugely impressive in a 6-2 win over Patrick Vieira's Nice and now look in a commanding position to top the group.
Match preview
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Having competed in last season's Champions League group stage, Slavia Prague were denied by Danish side Mitdjylland at the final qualifying hurdle this campaign, subsequently dropping into the Europa League.
Despite starting strongly in the Czech First League, sitting second on 16 points having remained unbeaten in their opening six matches, Europe has not been as kind to them this season after recent humblings in Denmark and Israel.
Jindrich Trpisovsky will be demanding more from his players, then, with retaining their domestic title and progressing to the Europa League knockout stages clear aims going forward.
He was afforded the rare luxury of providing his players with a rest over the weekend having had no scheduled league game, which could be a crucial factor with Leverkusen playing as recently as Monday night.
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After drawing their opening three league matches, Leverkusen's season appears to be up and running now with three consecutive victories in all competitions.
Last week's hammering of Nice was backed up by a 3-1 win over Augsburg on Monday night, moving them into fourth position in the Bundesliga table.
With Kai Havertz and Kevin Volland departing to Chelsea and Monaco respectively in the summer transfer window, goals were understandably hard to come by in the opening weeks, but Lucas Alario has stepped up in Patrick Schick's injury-enforced absence to score in all three of his side's wins.
Moussa Diaby also has two in two and is showing signs of becoming the player he threatened to be when first hitting the scene. Peter Bosz will be hoping for more of the same from his players in Prague.
Slavia Prague Europa League form: L
Slavia Prague form (all competitions): WDWLWL
Bayer Leverkusen Europa League form: W
Bayer Leverkusen form (all competitions): DDDWWW
Team News
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Trpisovsky will be without Thomas Holes and Peter Olayinka, with both quarantining due to the coronavirus.
Otherwise the Slavia Prague boss appears to have a full squad to select from, with Romanian international Nicolae Stanciu pushing for a start.
Schick is unlikely to return for Leverkusen until after the international break having torn a muscle, with Alario continuing to lead the line in his absence.
Paulinho and Santiago Arias are long-term absentees for Bosz with cruciate ligament and fibula ruptures respectively.
Slavia Prague possible starting lineup:
Kolar; Kudela, Hovorka, Bonl; Malinsky, Dorley, Traore, Provod; Sevcik; Tecl, Musa
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; L. Bender, S. Bender, Tapsoba, Wendell; Baumgartlinger, Palacios, Amiri; Bailey, Alario, Diaby
We say: Slavia Prague 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
We expect a closely fought affair in Prague, with the hosts boosted by a weekend break in stark contrast to Leverkusen competing less than 72 hours after defeating Augsburg.
However, there can be little doubting Leverkusen's superior quality and squad depth, which should see them claim a narrow victory.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:data
Brett Curtis
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bayer Leverkusen win with a probability of 49.24%. A win for Slavia Prague had a probability of 26.93% and a draw had a probability of 23.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayer Leverkusen win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.55%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (9.26%) and 0-2 (7.93%). The likeliest Slavia Prague win was 2-1 (6.73%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.16%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 6.5% likelihood.
