Sparta Prague's midfield is the thing I'd watch against Bournemouth. Karabec, Mercado and Rynes are all listed out, and those are the players who would normally link the back line to the front. Bournemouth are the opposite case: they have won six of their last ten league and cup games in a row, but their own gaps are in midfield and at centre-back. So the question is whose thinned middle copes better with a game that will probably be played in transition.
Sparta first. Per our availability data, Karabec (ankle), Mercado (calf), Rynes (ankle) and Sevinsky are out, with Uchenna, Andersen and Penxa also listed. Their form line is DLWLDDWWWW, but the recent games are mixed: a 0-0 at Bohemians, a 0-2 home loss to Ostrava in the cup, a 5-1 over Slovacko, and a 0-1 at Olympiacos in this competition. They are 16th in the league phase with 4 points from 3, and they have had about four days' rest.
Bournemouth come in with three straight wins in the phase, 8 scored and 1 conceded, and a 3-0 over AC Milan in the last Europa League game. Domestically they beat Leeds 2-0 and Aston Villa 3-0 in the cup. Our list has Scott, Toth and Araujo out, and Scott and Toth are both midfielders, so the engine room is thinner than the results suggest. Jebbison and Forster are also off the roster.
Why it interlocks: Sparta's best recent output (the 5-1) came at home against a side that gave them space, while the Olympiacos match was the sort of tight game they lost. If Bournemouth's depleted midfield cannot keep the ball, Sparta may not have the passers to exploit that. This is a lean on shape, not a certainty, and the lineups will say more.
