Sparta Prague vs Villarreal Betting Tips & Predictions

Sparta Prague were considered by some to be the weakest team left in the competition when the Quarter Final draw was made but that was perhaps a little disrespectful given they were unbeaten in it and had comfortably seen off Krasnodar and Lazio already in the knock-out phase. They put up a decent showing in the 1st Leg too going down 2-1 at El Madrigal with Cedric Bakambu scoring both goals for Villarreal.

The tie is therefore quite finely poised and a 1-0 Sparta win would see them through. They are in 2nd place in the Czech League but without a real chance of winning the title so certainly this game will be a massive priority for them given their long absence from the latter stages of European competitions. They won 2-1 at the weekend and are unbeaten at home since August when they lost their Champions League play-off with CSKA Moscow.

Villarreal look certain to be in the Champions League play-off round next season. They are 4th in La Liga with an 8 point advantage on the side below them following their 2-0 home win against Getafe on Sunday. They also won 2-1 at Eibar in their most recent away game but had gone 8 matches without a win on the road prior to that and are certainly much stronger at home so they would have been hoping for a bigger advantage to take to the Czech capital.

They have put in 2 very solid away performances in their 2 Europa League knock-out games though following 1st Leg home wins so this is not an unfamiliar position. They picked up draws in Naples and Leverkusen to progress into the next round and they will be confident they can do the same here. 6 of their last 8 away matches have ended up all square so they know how to grind out results on the road and backing this to finish in a 1-1 draw at 11/2 might be the way to go.