SLAVIA PRAGUE v CHELSEA
Europa League
Thursday 11th April 2019
Kickoff: 2000hrs
Pick: Chelsea win
Bookmaker: Marathonbet
Odds: 1.72 (odds taken at 23:22 GMT, 10 Apr 2019)
The Europa League action continues with the first leg clash between Slavia Prague and Chelsea as the betting tips continue at the Sinobo Stadium in Prague as the hosts look to gain an advantage before next week’s return leg at Stamford Bridge.
Europa League Betting at Marathonbet
Slavia Prague Prediction
Slavia Prague eventually squeezed through to these quarter-finals of the Europa League following an entertaining two-legged affair with Spanish club Sevilla with the Czech Republic side winning 6-5 on aggregate after drawing 2-2 in the first leg in Spain before winning 4-3 in extra time in the second leg on home turf.
The hosts are in good nick overall as they’ve won eight of their last 10 matches overall in all competitions which includes a 4-1 win away at Belgian club Genk in the previous round of the Europa League.
Slavia Prague are unbeaten in their last five home ties in the Europa League which includes wins over Bordeaux, Zenit and the extra time win against Sevilla, but they’ve also lost at home to Anderlecht, Villarreal and Astana in previous campaigns.
The danger men for the hosts are goalscoring midfielders Husbauer and Soucek (9 goals apiece) along with forwards Skoda (7 goals) and Olayinka (5 goals).
Slavia Prague have never faced Chelsea in a competitive match before Thursday night’s first leg in Prague.
- Slavia Prague are unbeaten in their last 5 home ties in the Europa League
- Chelsea have won 12 of their last 13 ties in the Europa League
- Slavia Prague and Chelsea have never met before
Chelsea Prediction
Chelsea secured a third win on the trot in the Premier League following Monday night’s 2-0 home win against London rivals, West Ham, which has helped lift Maurizio Sarri’s side into 3rd place in the English top flight.
Confidence will therefore be high as The Blues make their way over to Prague for this first leg of this quarter-final encounter with Slavia Prague, and having despatched Ukraine club, Dynamo Kiev in emphatic fashion in the previous round, winning 8-0 on aggregate, Chelsea must fancy their chances of progressing through to the semi-finals of this competition.
The visitors have usually been associated with the Champions League but Chelsea have also performed well in the Europa League too as they’ve won 12 of their last 13 ties in this competition overall.
Away from home, Chelsea have won six of their last seven matches on their travels which includes wins at Basel, Benfica, PAOK, BATE, Malmo and Dynamo Kiev, the latter producing an emphatic 5-0 win in the previous round of this season’s competition.
Forwards Hazard (16 goals), Pedro (8 goals), Higuain and Willian (3 goals apiece) are the visitors’ main goal threats who are expected to get a positive result in this 1st leg.
Betting Tips Verdict
Slavia Prague have put together a solid recent run of form but they’ll be facing one of the favourites to lift the Europa League, and this could be a tough two legs for the Ukraine side.
