Sparta Prague vs Bournemouth: 45 minutes from a 56-year-old record, and Sparta have gone two games without a goal

If Bournemouth are ahead in Prague at half-time on Thursday without having conceded, they will become the first English top-flight side to win 13 halves of football in a row.

That is where Marco Rose’s AFC Bournemouth are right now. Six straight wins, 16 goals scored, none let in, and they have led at the break in every one of those games. The record they matched against Leeds at the weekend belonged to Tottenham, who set it in September 1970.

Standing in the way is a Sparta Prague side that has gone cold. Brian Priske’s team are 16th in the Europa League table, out of the Czech Cup and eight points behind Slavia at home, and they have not scored in their last two games.

Sparta Prague vs Bournemouth: kick-off, venue and how to follow it

Competition: UEFA Europa League, league phase, matchday four

Date: Thursday 5 November 2026

Kick-off: 5.45pm UK time (6.45pm in Prague)

Venue: epet ARENA, Letná, Prague

Who is the referee?

UEFA had not named the referee or his team for this one when we published.

How did the Cherries get here?

It did not start this way. Bournemouth won only two of their first eight games in all competitions this season, drawing three and losing three. Then everything clicked.

Sturm Graz were beaten 3-0, Sunderland 2-0, AC Milan 3-0, Manchester United 3-0, Aston Villa 3-0 in the League Cup and Leeds 2-0. They were 1-0 or 2-0 up at half-time in all six. It is the first time Bournemouth have won three top-flight games in a row without conceding, and a win in Prague would be a seventh straight victory in all competitions, something they last managed in early 2014, as a Championship side under Eddie Howe. We broke down that Leeds win, and what Rose said about Evanilson as a “real number nine”, at the weekend.

In Europe they are perfect. A 2-1 win at Real Sociedad, then 3-0 at home to Sturm Graz and 3-0 against Milan, leaves them third of the 36 teams in the league phase, one of only five sides still on maximum points.

Bournemouth Europa League results so far

Why Sparta are short of goals

Sparta opened their Europa League campaign with a 4-1 win away at Ararat-Armenia, drew 1-1 at home to Lillestrøm and then lost 1-0 at Olympiacos a fortnight ago. Four points from three games is not a disaster, but the domestic picture since has been grim.

Jonatan Braut Brunes scored four in a 5-1 league win over Slovácko, and that was the last time it went in. Baník Ostrava won 2-0 at the epet ARENA to knock Sparta out of the cup in the last 16, and on Sunday they drew 0-0 at Bohemians 1905 despite playing almost 20 minutes against ten men. Slavia are now eight points clear at the top.

Home is still where Sparta are strongest in Europe, though. They have lost only one of their last nine UEFA home games, winning six.

Sparta Prague vs Bournemouth team news

Sparta Prague

Priske is still without Matěj Ryneš and Adam Karabec (both ankle), Magnus Kofod Andersen (knee) and Emmanuel Uchenna (thigh). The big worry is John Mercado. The winger is Sparta’s top scorer with seven goals this season, but a calf problem has kept him out of the last two games and he will be assessed before kick-off.

Former Wolves defender Ki-Jana Hoever should carry on at right-back, with captain Jaroslav Zelený and Tobias Guddal in the middle. Andrew Irving, signed from West Ham in the summer, is pushing for a recall in midfield.

Bournemouth

Alex Scott is close to a return from his hamstring injury, but Thursday comes too soon for him. That matters more than it looks, because Chelsea are already being linked with a January move for Scott, and Bournemouth have been winning without him.

Alex Tóth is out for months. The Hungarian midfielder has had surgery on the hamstring he hurt against Milan, and Rose has called it a “huge muscle injury”. Julian Araujo (thigh) is also still out.

Junior Kroupi will not be in the Europa League squad. Ben Gannon-Doak took his place under UEFA’s rule allowing clubs to replace a player injured for 60 days, and Rose has said the swap back will only happen after Prague, so Kroupi could be back for the trip to Celta Vigo at the end of the month. Bournemouth have already used their one temporary change, so they can’t replace Tóth in the squad either.

Bafodé Diakité is one booking away from a Europa League ban, but he is in line to start.

Will Rose rotate before Ipswich?

This is the hardest week of the season so far for Bournemouth: Prague on Thursday night, then back to England and straight to Ipswich on Sunday. Rose has already made it clear the whole squad will be used. He made eight changes for the League Cup win over Villa and still won 3-0.

Rose said: “This is getting a very demanding league for a club like us because now we have the first time that we play away in Europe and then we get back to the UK and then we play away. So we travel and we are not really home and we have not so much time.”

He also likes what that competition is doing to his players. “If I watch us right now and I see the competition and the hunger, how everyone wants to be on the pitch,” he said, before adding of Gannon-Doak: “Doaky knocks on my door every game.”

The first decision is in goal. Đorđe Petrović is the number one, but Michele Di Gregorio played against both Milan and Villa and did well in each. We expect the Italian to start again. At the back, Diakité should come in beside António Silva, with James Hill moving to right-back and Julio Soler giving Adrien Truffert a breather on the left. Tyler Adams played the full 90 minutes against Leeds, so Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie make sense in midfield.

Who decides this one?

Evanilson

The Brazilian has five goals in his last six games, and Rose now calls him a real number nine. Álvaro Rodríguez is the obvious option if he is rested, but with the record on the line, we think Rose keeps his in-form striker for at least the first half.

Ben Gannon-Doak

The Scot only stays in this squad because Kroupi is out of it, and he plays like a man who knows it. With Prague his last Europa League game before Kroupi comes back, expect him to start on the right.

Jonatan Braut Brunes

Four goals against Slovácko show what Sparta’s striker can do when he gets service. Bournemouth’s centre-backs have not conceded in six games, so he may see very little of the ball.

Sparta Prague vs Bournemouth predicted lineups

Sparta Prague predicted lineup (4-3-3): Surovčík; Hoever, Zelený, Guddal, Vitályos; Irving, Mannsverk, Sochůrek; Jurásek, Brunes, Alcócer

Bournemouth predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Hill, Diakité, Silva, Soler; Cook, Christie; Gannon-Doak, Kluivert, Adli; Evanilson

Justin Kluivert gets the number ten role ahead of Marcus Tavernier, and Amine Adli, back from injury and sharp off the bench against Leeds, starts on the left.

Prediction: history at half-time, three points at full-time

Sparta will be louder and braver at home than their league form suggests, and Bournemouth have not won back-to-back away games yet this season. But a side that cannot score against Bohemians is a poor bet to break a defence that has gone six games without conceding.

Our prediction: Sparta Prague 0-1 Bournemouth. An early goal, a record at the break, and enough left in the legs for Ipswich.