UEFA Europa League: Slavia Prague vs Sevilla preview

Czech side Slavia Prague are looking to reach the quarter-finals of an European competition for the first time since 2000 when they host Spanish outfit Sevilla at Sinobo Stadium on Thursday in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League last-sixteen tie. Slavia managed to get a very good result in the first leg, it ended 2-2 as the Czechs fought back from 1-0 and 2-1 down with goals from Miroslav Stoch and Alex Kral. Wissam Ben Yedder and Munir El Haddadi scored for Sevilla in the first leg. The two sides had met in 2007 in the group stage of the Champions League and Sevilla won both matches at the time, 4-2 at home and 3-0 away. Slavia Prague are having their best European campaign since 2000, when they managed to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. This time they finished second in their group behind Zenit St. Petersburg and then pulled off a great 4-1 victory at Genk to earn qualification after a goalless draw at home. Such a result would suit the Czechs perfectly in Thursday's match, but going for a goalless draw against a strong attacking side like Sevilla might prove futile. Last week Slavia secured a 4-0 victory over Ostrava in the Czech league and consolidated their place at the top of the table. Vladimir Coufal is suspended for this match, but there aren't any injury worries for the home side. Sevilla are the most successful team in the UEFA Europa League, they have won it five times and they are surely determined to grab a sixth crown. The success would be quite useful for them as well, because their place in the top four of the LaLiga table is anything but guaranteed. Last week they did manage to end a three-game losing streak with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Real Sociedad, but they are sixth in the league table. They have conceded twice per game in three of their last four matches in all competitions, but they have also scored at least once in each of their last five matches. Nolito and Sergio Escudero are injured, while Maximilian Wober and Tomas Vaclik are injury doubts. Probable line-ups: Slavia: Kolar - Frydrych, Kudela, Deli, Boril - Traore, Soucek, Kral - Stoch - Masopust, Zmrhal Sevilla: Soriano - Mercado, Kjaer, Gomez - Navas, Mesa, Banega, Promes - Sarabia, Ben Yedder, El Haddadi My prediction: Sevilla to win 2-1, the Spaniards will make their superior experience count. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Slavia win - 3.70 Draw - 3.75 Sevilla win - 2.05