Illustrative photo – Match of the 7th round of the first football league: 1. FC Slovácko – Slavia Prague, September 4, 2022, Uherské Hradiště. From the left, Michal Kohút from Slovácko, Lukáš Provod from Slavia and Vlastimil Daníček from Slovácko.
Prague – In the 21st round of the first league, the leading players of Slavia will challenge fourth-placed Slovácko at home on Sunday, which defeated second-placed Plzeň 2:0 last time. The West Bohemian defending champions host Liberec a day earlier. The third Sparta will also present itself in Zlín on Saturday. Home coach Pavel Vrba will try to surprise his former team.
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Photo gallery: First Football League 2022/23
Slavia recently unexpectedly only drew 1:1 in Teplice, yet they did not lose first place and lead the table by two points ahead of Pilsen. Slovácko confirmed their excellent form against Viktoria – they won for the third time out of four spring rounds and have not yet conceded this year. In Eden, coach Martin Svědík will be absent from the visitors' bench again due to a disciplinary penalty.
“A very difficult match for us. Even in the context of what we showed in Teplice, especially in the first half. I feel from the players that it's very unfortunate and we would like to present ourselves in a completely different light,” said Slavist coach Jindřich Trpišovský for the club's television.
In the autumn, the Prague team drew 1:1 in Uherské Hradiště, but before that they beat Slovácko in five league matches in a row. “They play very well against top teams and take points from them. Every match with Slovácko is a big football war for points. Last time (against Pilsen) they played excellently and deservedly won,” said Trpišovský.
Pilsen is not having a good start until Spring. They won twice and lost twice out of four matches, coach Michal Bílek's players are not doing too well in the game either. Osmý Liberec won only one of the last five rounds and lost to Viktoria in the top competition three times in a row without scoring a goal.
“Liberec is always an unpleasant opponent, we expect a difficult match, but we try to think positively. We hesitated twice in terms of results and we are not doing very well, we all feel that. But we want to break it, we want to work hard and of course we need the support of the fans,” said the assistant coach of Pilsen Pavel Horváth.
On Sunday, Sparta convincingly defeated Jablonec 3:0, won in the sixth of the last seven rounds and got closer to the competitors in the fight for the title. They lose five points to Slavia and three points to Pilsen. Last time, the penultimate Zlín lost 1:2 to the last Pardubice, who finished behind them in the table. In September, the “Shoemakers” surprisingly drew 0:0 at Sparta.
“If we play the same as we did in the second half with Jablonec, I see no reason why we shouldn't win there. There is some handwriting of Pavel Vrba in Zlín, especially in formation. But the players did not change much. I think we have read them and we know who will play where. The match is only about us,” said assistant coach of Sparta Luboš Loučka.
Ninth-placed Mladá Boleslav will welcome twelfth Czech Budejovice. On Saturday, Bohemians 1905 will also challenge the newcomer from Brno in Ďolíček. The “kangaroos” are sixth, Zbrojovka holds the 11th position.
The up-and-coming Pardubice, who won the last two rounds, will take on fifth Olomouc on Sunday. On the same day, the thirteenth-placed Jablonec host the fourteenth-placed Teplice in a rescue battle. Ostrava will also face seventh-placed Hradec Králové at home on Sunday. The tenth Baník lost twice in a row in the league, the “Invaders” gained only one point from the last three rounds.
