The Czech Cup final will grab the eyes this Wednesday as two of the Czech First League's underperformers take centre stage as Sparta Prague and Slovacko meet at the City Football Stadium of Miroslava Valenty.
This cup final is a chance for either side to grab something from a relatively underwhelming season for either side. Sparta Prague have once again fallen short in their pursuit of winning the Czech First League to make it another year without the title.
✍️ REPORT | Sparta won 303rd derby over Slavia! Adam Hložek decided the game by amazing free kick! More in the report. #acsparta➡️ https://t.co/7wD5G6JwRl pic.twitter.com/h7hT9eypRG— AC Sparta Prague (@ACSparta_EN) May 15, 2022
✍️ REPORT | Sparta won 303rd derby over Slavia! Adam Hložek decided the game by amazing free kick! More in the report. #acsparta➡️ https://t.co/7wD5G6JwRl pic.twitter.com/h7hT9eypRG
The all-time leaders of the division have won the top tier title 33 times, but they've now gone eight years without a league triumph.
The club have ended up in third for this season, behind Viktoria Plzen by 12 points and rivals Slavia Praha by five points.
They did end up beating Praha on the final day of the league season just last weekend, however, as they saw goals from Tomas Cvancara and Adam Hlozek snatch all three points, before Tomas Wiesner received a red card - he will now miss this cup final.
On the other hand, Sparta Prague did take defeats in their previous games before this, including a 2-1 loss to Slovacko in the Championship round of the Czech First League. Viktoria Plzen also dealt them a huge blow, as they hammered the club 3-0.
Despite the recent losses, Pavel Vrba's men have still managed to win 22 games this campaign, and given the nature of the Czech First League setup, they were also able to play against and beat Slovacko again just this time last month.
As for Slovacko, they comfortably finished in the top four and will now be in the Europa Conference League for next season.
Moreover, with 38 goals conceded this season and just one loss fewer on their record, they have had a commendable year and registered their best points tally in over a decade.
Martin Svědík's side are also coming off the back of two wins on the bounce, which includes that 2-1 win over Sparta Prague and a 3-0 win over Hradec Kralove, which saw Vlastimil Danicek get another goal this season, with Michal Kohut and Filip Vecheta getting a goal each too.
It hasn't been as easy a road for them as Sparta Prague's route to the final, with Slovacko edging past Kralove in the semi-finals by a mere goal, while they had to squeeze past Sigma on penalties after a goalless draw in the quarter-finals.
Forebet predicts a win for Sparta Prague here, and for the game to see over 2.5 goals.