Sparta Prague – Riga

Sparta will not face problems in the home match against Riga

For the first time in the last three years, Sparta began the European season not as the champions of the country. In this status the team reached the Round of 16 in the Europa League two seasons ago, and last season participated in the group stage of the Champions League. The previous Czech championship ended for the Prague team in fourth place, with a huge gap from the champions, Slavia. By mid-August, the Sparta players had gained such good form that talk of their championship ambitions arose again in the Czech Republic. FC Riga began its existence in 2015 when two clubs from the second tier of the country merged. In just ten years since its registration, the team has won the Latvian championship three times and the national cup twice. Naturally, being a wealthy club at its national level, Riga is not competitive on the continental stage. All attempts to qualify for the Europa Conference League in the last three years ended for the Rigan team with convincing exits at the hands of the first serious opponent. These opponents over the years have included Polish Ślȩsk, Portuguese Gil Vicente, and Dutch Twente. Compared to these clubs, Sparta Prague can be considered, if not a more serious opponent, then certainly capable of boasting a similar level. Bookmakers have established the home team as clear favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.27 for their victory. Sparta started the season with a draw in the opening round of the Czech championship and a loss in the second round of the Conference League qualifiers against Aktobe. However, the following seven official matches were confidently won by the Prague team. This allowed them to occupy first place in the national championship standings and to participate in the decisive round of the Conference League qualifiers. It's worth noting that the home matches in the previous two stages saw Sparta win with an aggregate score of 8:1. The opponents were by no means weaker than Riga: Aktobe and Ararat-Armenia. FC Riga, in the previous rounds of qualification, conceded three goals each in away matches against Israeli Beitar and Georgian Dila. What awaits them in Prague is terrifying even to imagine. We will place a bet on a convincing victory for the home team.