Slavia Prague welcome CFR Cluj to the Sinobo Stadium for their Europa Conference League Group G encounter on Thursday.
The hosts currently sit top of the group after accumulating four points from their opening two matches, while the visitors are at the bottom with only one point.
Match preview
© Reuters
Slavia Prague extended their impressive winning streak on home soil to nine matches in all competitions when they secured a comfortable 3-0 league victory against Slovan Liberec last weekend.
Jindrich Trpisovsky's side, who currently sit second in the Czech top flight, have scored a total of 40 goals during this run and have conceded only four in the process.
The Red and Whites will be confident of building on their strong run of form as they head into Thursday's game unbeaten in their last eight meetings in European competition against Romanian opposition.
Slavia Prague's only previous encounter with Cluj was in a 2019-20 Champions League qualifier, which saw the Czech outfit record 1-0 victories in both legs.
Another win on Thursday would put Trpisovsky's men in a strong position to progress from the group stage for the second successive year, after reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League last season.
© Reuters
After suffering a 1-0 defeat in their most recent Europa Conference League fixture at home against Sivasspor, CFR Cluj have since recorded back-to-back wins by the same scoreline in the Romanian top flight.
A dramatic 91st-minute winner from Cristian Manea helped the Railwaymen edge past Petrolul last weekend and move to within six points of the summit with two games in hand.
Dan Petrescu's side have been difficult to beat on the road so far this season, losing only one of their eight away games across all competitions. Indeed, their only point claimed in Group G came on the road in a 1-1 draw against Ballkani last month.
Cluj failed to progress from the group stage of last season's inaugural competition and defeat on Thursday would hinder their hopes of a top-two finish in Group G this time around. However, securing maximum points would see them equal their tally of four points from last season with three games remaining and could push them above current group leaders Slavia Prague.
Team News
© Reuters
Sparta Prague will be without midfielder Tomas Holes and winger Ivan Schranz due to respective ankle and spinal injuries.
Goalkeeper Ales Mandous was not involved in last weekend's win over Liberec due to injury and he may also miss Thursday's game, so Ondrej Kolar could be handed another start between the sticks.
Stanislav Tecl and Peter Olayinka, who both scored against Liberec, are expected to keep their places in attack along with Ewerton.
As for Cluj, forward Gabriel Debeljuh – who was the club's top scorer last season with 19 goals – is ruled out until the New Year with a cruciate ligament injury.
Cephas Malele is expected to continue as the central striker as a result, with support set to be provided on the flanks by Emmanuel Yeboah and Claudiu Petrila.
Slavia Prague possible starting lineup:
Kolar; Doudera, Ousou, Kacharaba, Jurasek; Sevcik, Hromada; Ewerton, Traore, Olayinka; Tecl
CFR Cluj possible starting lineup:
Scuffet; Braun, Kolinger, Matias, Camora; Boateng, Muhar, Deac; Yeboah, Malele, Petrila
We say: Slavia Prague 2-1 CFR Cluj
A closely-fought contest between two evenly-matched sides is set to take place on Thursday, but Slavia Prague will be regarded as the slight favourites and considering their impressive home record, we can see the Czechs coming away with maximum points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
