Sparta Prague – Levadia

Czech league winners Sparta Prague host Estonian champions Levadia Tallinn in the 2nd round of the Champions League qualifiers – 1st leg.

Sparta Prague fell behind opponents like Viktoria Plzen in the last years but kept on rebuilding the squad and last season was one to remember with some incredible stats: 13 points over their rivals in the standings, 25 wins, 4 draws and only 1 defeat … and the defeat only came in the end of the season when league was won and Sparta was preparing for the Cup final … which they also won. At home they played incredible, winning all 15 games with a 49-7 goal difference (an average advantage of almost 3 goals per game over the opponents). Sparta truly has a great team, they continued to play excellent in friendlies pre-season and just defeated Basel 4-0. I think the Czech team will for sure reach the Champions League stages this year.

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Levadia easily qualified from the 1st round over La Fiorita from San Marino with 8-0 aggregate but for sure that was very poor opposition. Levadia played great last year in Estonia posting great stats and had little trouble winning the league but this year they are struggling a little bit and are only second behind Flora. But still it`s an advantage for them that they have started the league a long time, while Sparta Prague has not, so maybe a little bit better fitness for Levadia ahead of this match.

Even though the Estonians had a good last season and are more match-ready than Sparta Prague, I can never see them challenging the Czech team especially away from home and odds of 1.15 for the simple win bet on the Prague side are more than fair for sure. The last time Sparta failed to win a home game was exactly one year ago and most of their wins since than came by 2, 3 or more goals. The difference between Czech and Estonian football is huge, we see Estonian teams with big problems in Europe in last years and Sparta in this kind of form will nullify any kind of fitness advantage Levadia has. For me a 3+ goal win looks probable as Sparta will try to win big and relax in the second leg. My tip will be Sparta Prague to win with a -2,5 goal handicap. Correct score prediction: Sparta Prague – Levadia Tallinn 3-0.

Pick: Sparta Prague (-2,5 handicap)
Odds: 2.20 @ Ladbrokes
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 9.6
Event date: 15 July