FCSB (Rou) vs Sparta Prague (Cze) prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Qualification betting tips on match 2024-08-12 18:30.
[p]FCSB have taken their time to get going this season, but a 1-1 draw in the first leg of this UEFA Champions League (UCL) third qualifying round tie against Sparta Prague leaves them with everything to play for as they try to reach the league phase. They rode their luck at times in the first leg, with a late Sparta winner ruled out by VAR, but their unbeaten H2H record (W2, D3) nonetheless remains intact.[/p]
[p]Home comforts might inspire the reigning Romanian champions to better things, especially as they scored twice in both previous meetings in Bucharest (W1, D1) including a 2-0 win at this same stage of the UCL having also drawn the first leg 1-1 in 2016! Coming from behind twice to beat Farul Constanta 3-2 on Friday should also act as a confidence booster for Elias Charalambous’ side, who have lost just one of ten games in all competitions this season (W5, D4).[/p]
[p]Sparta started the season strongly by winning their first four league fixtures, picking up where they left off last term when they beat rivals Slavia to the Czech top-flight title by two points. Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Bohemians also saw them concede the opening goal, so winning against another Prague-based rival should have provided a good tune-up for this clash.[/p]
[p]Scoring eight times in their three competitive away games this term (W3) is another good omen but they’ve found transferring that sort of form to European competition a struggle for some time. Their 2-0 win at Shamrock Rovers in July was their first UCL away win since August 2010 (D3, L5), a lengthy period that includes that aforementioned previous trip to FCSB in 2016.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Darius Olaru has made a flying start to the season for FSCB, including three goals in Europe and three league strikes, with all three of those domestic goals coming after the 50th minute. Sparta would be happy to see Indrit Tuci on the scoresheet as they’ve won all three of his goalscoring outings since his arrival in January, all coming in games in which both sides scored.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Sparta conceded exactly twice in all four previous away games against Romanian sides in Europe (W1, D1, L2).[/p]
[p][i]Written by John Pennington[/i][/p]