Europe Europe League - Last 16 (1st Leg)

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Sparta Prague vs Liverpool Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

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

Liverpool:
Kelleher; Gomez, Quansah, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; McConnell, Endo, Szoboszlai; Elliott, Gakpo, Koumas

Sparta will welcome Liverpool to Prague for the first leg of their last-16 tie on Thursday evening. The Czech Republic's outfit managed to eliminate Champions League drop-outs Galatasaray in the previous round. Turkish side won 3:2 in the first match played in Istanbul, but Sparta secured progress thanks to a 4:1 win in a second leg match at their home stadium. The Czech football league champions scored three goals after Galatasaray were down to 10 men when defender Kaan Ayhan was shown a red card in the 68th minute. The result at that moment was 1:1 as Angelo Preciado netted an early opener for Sparta, while Abdulkerim Bardakci equalized the score just eight minutes later. After Ayhan was shown a straight red card following a VAR review of his tackle on Lukas Haraslin in the 68th minute, Sparta scored three goals. Indrit Tuci restored the lead in the 74th minute, Haraslin made it 3:1 in the 80th minute, while Kuchta scored the fourth goal deep into the stoppage time. It is clear Sparta are strong at home where they are unbeaten on the last 15 matches across all competitions. Coach Brian Priske will try to continue the series, though this is the biggest challenge this season. Most of the players are ready, only right-back Andreas Vindheim is sidelined, while centre-back Filip Panak is rated as doubtful.

Liverpool are playing a fantastic season. The Reds have already won the League Cup last month, beating Chelsea at Wembley. They are leaders in the Premier League and they are in good form at the moment. Jurgen Klopp's men have registered six successes in all competitions. Liverpool managed to beat Nottingham, Luton Town, Brentford and Burnley in the Premier League, Southampton in the FA Cup and Chelsea in the League Cup final. The atmosphere in the squad is excellent, while the players confidence is very high. But there is a problem too - injury situation. Eight players are definitely sidelined for the trip to Prague - Joel Matip, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara, Curtis Jones, Alisson Becker, Ryan Gravenberch, Ben Doak and Stefan Bajcetic. To be worse, key player Mohamed Salah is rated as doubtful. With Manchester City to come at the weekend, Klopp will probably not risk with the Egyptian here. Three players - Darwin Nunez, Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai - have just recovered and Klopp must be careful with their playing time to avoid any injury set-back. Fatigue could be another problem as Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott need a rest. I expect some of the youngsters to be in the starting eleven.

Sparta Prague vs Liverpool Prediction:

Sparta could upset the favorites here. The home advantage is the first reason for my pick. Liverpool showed some weaknesses playing away from home this season as they suffered defeats to Toulouse in France and Union Royale in Belgium. Furthermore, the Reds failed to win any of their last 11 Europa League knockout games away from home. The second reason is connect with the players availability. While Sparta are almost complete, with Ladislav Krejci, Veljko Birmancevic and Matej Rynes all back from suspension, Klopp will play with "B team". I already wrote about the injury situation and I think Sparta could take advantage from that.

Sparta Prague vs Liverpool Pick: Sparta Prague +0.5 AH @ 1.97 with Pinnacle

 

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Roma vs Brighton Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Roma:
Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Smalling, Angelino; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy

Brighton:
Verbruggen; Lamptey, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Gross, Baleba; Adingra, Enciso, Buonanotte; Welbeck

Roma host Brighton at Stadio Olimpico in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 on Thursday. The Italian side were successful in Europe last few seasons. First they won the Conference League in 2021/22, beating Feyenoord in the final in Tirana. Last season Roma played another final, this time in Europa League. However, they lost to Sevilla in Budapest. That was the first-ever defeat for Mourinho in a European final. The Giallorossi are under new management now having replaced Jose Mourinho with Daniele De Rossi in January. The new coach has no previous European experience, but his debut was successful. Roma have eliminated Feyenoord in the previous round and the atmosphere in the squad is good. Goalkeeper Svilar was the hero after saved two penalties during the roulette. De Rossi has some issues ahead of this match. Forward Tammy Abraham remain long-term absentee, but there is more - Rasmus Kristensen has been ruled out by a thigh injury sustained against Monza during the weekend. The fellow defender Rick Karsdorp is struggling with a knee injury. Turkish international Zeki Celik will probably start from the first minute as right-back, while Chris Smalling is an option in the heart of the defense. Romelu Lukaku should lead the line, supported by Paulo Dybala and Stephan El Shaarawy. Dybala is in excellent form, he scored a hat-trick in a 4:1 win against Monza this weekend.

Brighton were fantastic under Graham Potter, but Roberto de Zerbi became the fans "most loved" manager. The Italian introduced his football philosophy and was pretty successful last term. Brighton finished sixth in the Premier League last season, qualifying for Europe for the first time in their 122-year history. They had a successful campaign and ended as first in Group B. The opponents were not naive teams, but the former European champions Marseille and Ajax, as well as Greek side AEK Athens. The players confidence is high and they will try to upset Roma. But De Zerbi has some injury worries ahead of this match. The club best scorer in Europa League Joao Pedro (6 goals) is struggling with injury and he is rated as doubtfull. Four players remain sidelined - Kaoru Mitoma (back), Solly March (knee), Jack Hinshelwood (foot) and James Milnersidelines (thigh). Billy Gilmour is currently serving a three-match domestic suspension, but he is available to play in Europe. The absence of the previously mentioned players may force De Zerbi to promote Pascal Gross and Simon Ading into the starting eleven.

Roma vs Brighton Prediction:

Brighton were fantastic last two years and had some memorable performances. It is hard to forget a 3:3 draw at Liverpool in October 2022, when Leandro Trossard silenced the Anfield with his hat-trick. But the departure of several key players during the last period was a problem. Trossard joined Arsenal, Marc Cucurella, Caicedo and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez went to Chelsea. Yves Bissouma signed for Tottenham, Neal Maupay for Everton, Alexis Mac Allister for Liverpool and Dan Burn joined Newcastle. New manager Roberto de Zerbi, who replaced Graham Potter, commented the departures in interesting way: “The big clubs can buy the players but they can't buy our soul and our spirit. That's not on the market and this is more important than the players when they leave." However, the actual season is not good as the previous. They are 9th on the table and they are in poor form, losing the last two matches. They lost 1:0 to Wolverhampton in the FA Cup and lost 3:0 to Fulham in the Premier League. Roma are in good form under De Rossi and they have scored 12 goals on the last four matches. Lukaku and Dybala look unstoppable at the moment. Brighton failed to net on the last two matches and this is a big problem. Joao Pedro and Mitoma are injured and that is another problem for De Zerbi. According to me, Roma are closer to the victory.

Roma vs Brighton Pick: Roma to win @ 2.10 with Everygame