Southampton v Sparta Prague Betting Preview – UEFA Europa League 15th September
The Saints will be hoping for someone comforts to kick off their Europa League campaign with. The Premier League club are going as favourites, but they haven’t had the strongest of starts to the new season. Sparta, who reached the quarterfinals of the Europa League last season, carded a W1 D2 record in their three group stage away games last season. At such a big price on the match outright, are they some value to go to St Mary’s and pull off an upset? This may be a trickier game for the out-of-sorts Saints than it would appear to be.
In case things don’t go your way in your betting you can enjoy some great 0-0 bore draw insurance on this and all games listed at online betting site Bet365. If you have a pre-match losing correct score,scorecast or half time/full bet which goes down because the game ends in a 0-0 draw then you will get your lost stake refunded. Sign up with Bet365 to enjoy other great features like live streams, partial cash outs and extensive live in-play betting. Register an account with Bet365 and earn a 100% matched deposit bonus.
Southampton v Sparta Prague Betting Tips
Can Southampton make the most of being on home soil for their Europa League debut? Given their poor returns from their home games in the Premier League this season, there’s no given in this one. Things just haven’t gotten going for them under Claude Puel at the moment and they need better after failing to have won a match this season as they head into what is their first ever game against Sparta Prague. This is the first time that Southampton have been in the group stage of a UEFA competition, so it is new ground for them. They are currently running on a five match unbeaten home streak in Europe though with a W1 D4 record on their side. They are lacking the kind of experience though in Europe at the moment that Sparta can bring to the table and that could be a problem for the Saints.
When you look at them on paper, Southampton do have scoring threats through Charlie Austin, Shane Long, Jay Rodriguez and Nathan Redman who are all around the 8/5 quote in the anytime goalscorer market. They haven’t produced enough collectively this season and the Saints haven’t been water tight at the back for some time now. Southampton have returned 1-1 Premier League draws against Watford and Sunderland so far this season on the south coast, and those are sides you would be expecting the Saints to beat on home soil. So reasons for concerns for the Saints at the moment and you’re probably better off looking at under 2.5 goals on the game for a price of 17/20. If you wanted to run with another 1-1 result showing up at St Mary’s then that is a 6/1 punt in the correct score market.
So what of Sparta Prague then? Well they pose a bit of a threat. Last season they ran to the quarter finals of the Europa League. In the group stage they went unbeaten out on the road with a W1 D2 record and in the knockout phase they did take a notable win in Rome against Lazio. They have played five games of the new Czech domestic top flight this season and they have produced five different goalscorers in those games. Their main attacking threats through can be found in Borek Dockal who is up at a price of 4/1 in the anytime goalscorer market and experienced striker David Lafata who is a 3/1 poke to net in the game.
Sparta’s record in 18 UEFA matches against English opposition is W3 D4 L11 (away – W1 D2 L6). So they haven’t enjoyed themselves in England very much before and they actually without a win in their last 14 fixtures involving Premier League teams (D4 L10). On top of that they have failed to post a victory in any of their last three European away matches in a D1 L2 record but they have make it past the group stage in three of their last four attempts. But there is a threat there from them and they could make life uncomfortable for the Saints, who are not in top gear at the moment. This could be a pretty evenly matched contest.
Southampton v Sparta Prague Betting Odds
Southampton 11/20, Draw 14/5, Sparta Prague 11/2
Southampton v Sparta Prague Predictions
Hard to see a winner being produced in this game. Southampton haven’t produced the goods this season and there is cause for concern with them at the moment until they piece things together. Sparta were decent in Europe last season and it may just be worth backing them to go out and pick up a point in this one. They would be happy with that. Under 2.5 goals and a draw. So another 1-1 draw at St Mary’s is a tempter.
Find the latest results, League Table, Top Scorer and more on our football statistics on online-betting.me.uk (just choose your country & your preferred topic)
