Ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash between Liverpool and Sparta Prague, Sports Mole looks at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two clubs.

Following last week's six-goal spectacular, Liverpool and Sparta Prague renew hostilities for the second leg of their Europa League last-16 battle on Thursday evening at Anfield.

The Reds ran out 5-1 victors at epet Arena during their opening battle, where Darwin Nunez bagged a brace alongside efforts from Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister to give Jurgen Klopp's men a seemingly insurmountable advantage.

The hosts enter the second leg on the back of a frenetic 1-1 Premier League draw with Manchester City, while their visitors were thumped 4-0 by Viktoria Plzen in Czech Fortuna Liga action.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.

Liverpool's Darwin Nunez celebrates scoring their second goal on March 7, 2024 © Reuters

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 3
Liverpool wins: 2
Draws: 1
Sparta Prague wins: 0

Last week's unmissable encounter marked the third competitive showdown between Sparta Prague and Liverpool in all competitions, and the Reds remain unbeaten against their Czech foes in the Europa League, winning two and drawing one of their previous battles.

Even with Premier League commitments to take into account, Klopp went strong for the first leg, where Mac Allister's penalty gave Liverpool an early lead before Nunez notched a brace for himself in the time that remained in the first half.

The scoreline did not tell the whole story, though, as Brian Priske's side wasted numerous chances and were also nullified by some heroic defensive work from Klopp's troops, until Conor Bradley turned into his own net within seconds of the second half starting.

However, Diaz and Szoboszlai's strikes ensured that Liverpool - who also had a Mohamed Salah goal disallowed for a contentious offside - would travel home with a healthy first-leg lead, as Sparta were left to rue the three big chances they missed on home soil.

Prior to the 2023-24 edition, Liverpool and Sparta's only previous two-legged tie came in the 2010-11 last 32, where the Czech outfit dug in for a goalless draw on home soil before succumbing to a 1-0 Anfield defeat seven days later.

A Reds side led by Sir Kenny Dalglish prevailed thanks to a late Dirk Kuyt header on that occasion, and that 1-0 success bore a strikingly similar resemblance to the first time that they played host to an opponent from the Czech Republic, as Emile Heskey was the 87th-minute hero in a 1-0 beating of Slovan Liberec in 2000-01.

In contrast, Sparta Prague arrive at Anfield having won one, drawn two and lost eight of their 11 European matches away to English teams, with that solitary success coming against Watford during the 1983-84 UEFA Cup last 16.

A record of just four wins from their last 21 European away games - the other 17 of which have ended in defeat - does not make for pleasant Sparta reading either, but on the other hand, Liverpool are on an eight-game winning home run in the Europa League and could now match Chelsea's English record of nine on the spin.

Previous meetings

Mar 07, 2024: Sparta Prague 1-5 Liverpool (Europa League Round of 16)
Feb 24, 2011: Liverpool 1-0 Sparta Prague (Europa League Round of 32)
Feb 17, 2011: Sparta Prague 0-0 Liverpool (Europa League Round of 32)