Following a 3-2 away victory in the first leg of their Europa Conference League playoff tie, Slavia Prague will welcome Fenerbahce to the Sinobo Stadium for the second leg on Thursday night.
The visitors are unbeaten in each of their last four away matches, while the hosts have lost just two of their 18 home games this season, though both were suffered in domestic fixtures earlier this month.
Match preview
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Jindrich Trpisovsky was unable to be on the touchline for Slavia Prague's first-leg victory in Turkey due to health reasons, but the 45-year-old watched on from home and will have been thoroughly impressed with their performance, with last week's result ending a six-game winless run on the road in European competition.
Ibrahim Traore broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time, before Dimitris Pelkas equalised for the hosts in the 58th minute; however, two goals in two minutes from Oscar Dorley and substitute Ondrej Lingr gave the visitors a comfortable lead. Fenerbahce, though, were able to pull one back in the final 10 minutes through Ferdi Kadioglu to give the Turkish outfit hope of a comeback.
Slavia Prague have since won 1-0 at home against Bohemians 1905 in the Czech First Division, a result which keeps them at the top of the table on goal difference ahead of Viktoria Plzen, who remain on their heels in second place.
While Trpisovsky's side will be keen to claim their fourth successive top-flight crown, they will now turn their attention to Thursday's second leg, as they aim to win both legs of a major European knockout tie for the first time since the 2005-06 UEFA Cup first round against Cork City.
Slavia Prague have only hosted a Turkish team once before in European competition, beating Besiktas 1-0 in a UEFA Cup last-16 tie back in February 2003. The same result or even a draw would be enough for the Czechs to advance to the last 16 in midweek.
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Fenerbahce's first-leg defeat against Slavia Prague, their third successive home loss, has hindered their hopes of reaching the last 16 in European competition for the first time in six years.
The Yellow Canaries were, however, able to bounce back with a 2-0 league win against Hatayspor on Sunday, albeit only the third success in their last nine games across all tournaments, a poor run of form which head coach Ismail Kartal will be keen to resolve.
Striker Serdar Dursun scored both goals from the penalty spot in his first start for the club since fracturing his cheekbone earlier this month. Fenerbahce now sit in fifth place in the Super Lig table, six points behind Konyaspor in second, who occupy the final Champions League spot.
Kartal's men head to the Sinobo Stadium on Thursday after winning their last two European games in the Czech Republic, securing 1-0 wins against Sparta Prague in November 2004 and Viktoria Plzen in March 2013.
Victory in midweek for Fenerbahce would be only the fourth in their last 25 second-leg knockout ties in major European competition, but a win by at least two or more goals is required if they wish to progress to the last 16.
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Team News
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Sparta Prague will have to cope without Jan Boril, Laco Takacs, Lukas Provod, Lukas Masopust, David Hovorka and Jan Kuchta due to injury.
The hosts can, however, welcome back Alexander Bah from suspension and the 24-year-old right-back could return to the starting lineup at the expense of centre-back Taras Kacharaba, with Ivan Schranz moving up to play on the right wing.
Forward Stanislav Tecl and midfielder Daniel Samek both started in the league last weekend, but they could be replaced by Yira Sor and Ibrahim Traore respectively on Thursday.
As for Fenerbahce, they will be without Luiz Gustavo (calf), Irfan Kahveci (shoulder) and Filip Novak (thigh) due to injury, while star playmaker Mesut Ozil is doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Forward Diego Rossi, centre-midfielder Miguel Crespo and left-back Cagtay Kurukalip all started in last weekend's league win, but as the trio have not been selected in Fenerbahce's European squad, they will drop out of the starting lineup on Thursday with Dimitris Pelkas, Jose Sosa and Ferdi Kadioglu set to take their places.
Enner Valencia could replace Dursun up front, while former Queens Park Rangers man Bright Osayi-Samuel is set to start on the right wing.
Slavia Prague possible starting lineup:
Mandous; Bah, Holes, Ousou, Dorley; Sevcik, Traore; Schranz, Plavsic, Sor; Olayinka
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Bayindir; Sangare, Kim, Szalai, Kadioglu; Sosa, Zajc, Yandas; Osayi-Samuel, Pelkas; Valencia
We say: Slavia Prague 2-2 Fenerbahce (Slavia Prague to win 5-4 on aggregate)
Another entertaining contest could be on the cards here, though the pressure will be on Fenerbahce to break down Slavia Prague's backline and win on the night by at least two goals.
Both sides are expected to threaten in the final third, but the hosts should just do enough to hang on for a draw and progress into the last 16 on aggregate.
Oliver Thomas
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 Fenerbahce win with a probability of 43.35%. A win for Slavia Prague had a probability of 31.63% and a draw had a probability of 25%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fenerbahce win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.29%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.04%) and 0-2 (7.11%). The likeliest Slavia Prague win was 1-0 (7.72%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.8%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 2.4% likelihood.
