Europa League
2013-02-14 - Sparta Prague vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: European Europa League
Thursday 14 February 2013 - Kick Off 6pm
This game is live on TV
Sparta Prague
With many of the other Eastern European Leagues, Sparta Prague will be playing this game as their first competitive contest for a couple of months. However, being visited by the current Champions League winners should inspire the players, who have admitted they are working that little bit harder with anticipation of this contest.
The Czech Republic domestic League will open up with Sparta finding themselves just 3 points behind Viktoria Plzen so there is all to play for at the end of the month for them. For now, Sparta can concentrate fully on this two legged tie as they look to spring a real surprise.
It should be considered a surprise that Sparta Prague are even at this stage of the competition as not many would have tipped them to come out of a Group containing Lyon and Athletic Bilbao. However, they comfortably came through in second spot in the Group and are riding an 11 game unbeaten run in at home in the Europa League. Sparta Prague have won 6 of those 11 games and have played the likes of Liverpool, Lyon, Athletic Bilbao and Feyenoord here.
Sparta Prague went into the Winter break on a 14 game unbeaten run so confidence shouldn't be an issue, even without playing a competitive game in a couple of months. They are unbeaten in 7 home games in all competitions, winning 6 in a row before the 1-1 draw with Lyon.
Chelsea
Rafa Benitez is under a lot of pressure at Stamford Bridge thanks to Chelsea's poor run of form. The Spaniard has never been wanted by the fans and there were suggestions that the owner had also seen enough before the 4-1 win over Wigan Athletic last weekend. This could be a big week for Benitez as they have 3 Cup games to play in 7 days and exiting both would surely see him given his marching orders.
Chelsea are 3rd in the Premier League and are still in line to earn a Champions League place, the minimum expected of them. The title already looks beyond their reach and that may give them a little more chance to concentrate on the Cup competitions they are involved in.
They did become the first Champions League winner to fail to reach the Second Round when trying to defend their trophy as Shakhtar Donetsk and Juventus proved too strong for them in the Groups. Chelsea were beaten in Donetsk and Turin during that stage and have won just 2 of their last 10 away games in the Champions League. This will be the first time Chelsea have played in the second European competition since back in 2002/03.
Before the win over Wigan, Chelsea had failed to win 4 games in all competitions and they have also failed to win any of their last 4 away games in all competitions. Chelsea have surprisingly been conceding too many goals of late, conceding at least 2 in their last 3 away games, although they have also scored 2 goals in each of those games.
Head to Head
Sparta Prague and Chelsea met in the 2003/04 Champions League Groups in a couple of low-scoring games.
The game in Prague ended with a 0-1 win for Chelsea, while the return in London was a goalless draw.
Prediction
The lack of competitive football for Sparta Prague does worry me a little as they could be a little out of rhythm for a little while in this game.
However, Chelsea have been scoring and conceding goals for fun in their away games and while Rafa Benitez is a more cautious manager away from home in Europe, I expect a side to be put out to score away goals.
I think the away odds are a little short, because I can see both sides scoring at least once in this one. The over 2.5 goals is priced at evens and that looks a decent shout despite Benitez' normal cautious nature.
The Pick :
Sparta Prague 1-2 Chelsea
