Real Betis will welcome Sparta Prague to the Estadio Benito Villamarin on Thursday in the second round of Europa League group-stage fixtures this season.

The two sides enjoyed differing starts to their continental campaigns last month, with the hosts falling to a defeat against Rangers and their visitors triumphing over Aris Limassol.

Match preview

Real Betis earned continental qualification for this season thanks to their sixth-placed finish in La Liga last time around, as they ended 11 points outside of the top four and seven clear of seventh spot to advance to the group stage of the Europa League.

That set up a return to Europe's secondary competition after reaching the round of 16 last year, with Manuel Pellegrini's side cruising through the group stage with an unbeaten record, only to fall to an eventual 5-1 aggregate defeat to Manchester United in the knockout stage.

On the back of a slow start to their La Liga season, culminating in a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona in mid-September, Los Verdiblancos began the new group campaign with a trip to Glasgow to take on Rangers, but they came away empty-handed as Abdallah Sima hit the only goal of the game in the 67th minute at Ibrox.

The Andalusian outfit followed that disappointing start up with a pair of 1-1 draws in the following two league outings against Cadiz and Granada, but they do now head into their second group outing on the back of an important 3-0 triumph at home to Valencia on Sunday to move seventh in La Liga, with Assane Diao opening the scoring late in the first half before Marc Roca and Abde Ezzalzouli got on the scoresheet in the second period.

Pellegrini's side will now aim to build on that dominant display with their first points of the continental campaign on home turf on Thursday.

In their way stand a Sparta Prague side who will aim to make it back-to-back triumphs in the group after fighting through continental qualifying early this term, having earned a place in Champions League qualifying after winning the Czech First League for the 38th time and their first time since 2014 last time around.

In their bid to reach the group stage of Europe's premier competition, the Zelezna Sparta firstly met Danish outfit Copenhagen in the third qualifying round, but they would fall short by the barest of margins, playing out a goalless stalemate away from home and drawing 3-3 after extra time on home turf, only to eventually lose in the penalty shootout and drop into the Europa League playoff round as a result.

Dinamo Zagreb stood in their way at that stage, and after a 3-1 away defeat, Brian Priske's men would prevail in style with a 4-1 home victory to progress thanks to goals from Lukas Haraslin, Asger Sorensen, Filip Panak and Victor Olatunji, booking their place in the group stage as a result.

Their group campaign then began at home to Aris Limassol in September, and after going behind early on, the Zelezna Sparta eventually took all three points from a 3-2 triumph in the Czech capital, as Ladislav Krejci netted a first-half brace and Martin Vitik stretched their lead soon after the hour mark.

Having followed that up with a draw against rivals Slavia Prague and a victory over Viktoria Plzen to strengthen their position at the top of the Czech top flight and extend their unbeaten start to 10 league games, Sparta Prague will hope to carry their momentum into Thursday's tough trip and pull off somewhat of an upset at the Estadio Benito Villamarin to make it six points from a possible six in the group.

Team News

Real Betis will likely field a similar starting XI on Thursday from their 3-0 beating of Valencia at the weekend, as Manuel Pellegrini continues to deal with an unenviable injury list with Youssouf Sabaly, Luiz Henrique, Willian Jose and Nabil Fekir all sidelined.

One change could be the introduction of Abde Ezzalzouli, with the young winger likely to be rewarded with a starting spot after scoring off the bench on Sunday, while Assane Diao should keep his place on the right wing after also scoring in that game.

Borja Iglesias will push to start up front, while William Carvalho is fighting to return in midfield, with Hector Bellerin, German Pezzella, Marc Barta and Juan Miranda set to line up in an unaltered back four in front of experienced stopper Claudio Bravo if Bartra is deemed fit.

Sparta Prague also have little reason to make many changes for Thursday's trip after their victory over Viktoria Plzen last time out, although Priske does have a decision to make in defence with Ladislav Krejci returning to contention after serving a suspension in that triumph.

Jan Kuchta will continue to lead the line in their 3-4-3 shape, after hitting his fourth goal of the season in Saturday's win, while winger Lukas Haraslin is their key man going forward, having already contributed seven goals and three assists in eight league matches this term.

Lukas Sadilek is a mainstay in the engine room and should again be joined by Qazim Laci, who netted their opening goal in the weekend's league victory, while Martin Vitik, Filip Panak and Asger Sorensen will all hope to keep their places in the back three following Krejci's return.

Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Bellerin, Pezzella, Bartra, Miranda; Carvalho, Roca; Diao, Isco, Abde; Iglesias

Sparta Prague possible starting lineup:
Vindahl-Jensen; Krejci, Panak, Sorensen; Preciado, Sadilek, Laci, Rynes; Birmancevic, Kuchta, Haraslin

We say: Real Betis 2-0 Sparta Prague

Following their disappointing defeat in the opening group game, Real Betis will be keen to bounce back on Thursday, and with home advantage on their side, we fancy them to outclass the Czech visitors and put their first three points on the board.


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