'Leicester Visit A Real Test Of Slavia Prague's Ability'
- Leicester City meet Slavia Prague in the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday (5:55pm kick-off GMT)
- The first fixture will be played at Slavia's Sinobo Stadium ahead of next week's return leg at Leicester City Stadium
- LCFC TV spoke to Slavia fan Yon Pulkrabek to get the lowdown on Leicester's Czech-based opponents
- He believes the Foxes will provide one of the toughest tests of the season for the free-scoring Czech First League leaders
The Czech outfit head into the first leg clash unbeaten in their Czech First League campaign, winning 16 of 19 matches this term and scoring a league-high 57 goals in the process.
Finishing second behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League group stages, meanwhile, Slavia accumulated 12 points from a possible 18, including victory over the Group C winners. Červenobílí have also won seven consecutive home games in all competitions and look to be a formidable force at Sinobo Stadium so far in 2021.
"I wouldn't say we fancy our chances, but I think we have a good shot," Pulkrabek told LCFC TV earlier this week. "We're coming in [to this game] playing really well, scoring quite a lot of goals over the last few matches in our domestic league.
"Obviously the level of competition is completely different, but the attack is really humming right now, which is an interesting point when compared to Leicester's recruitment and reading about the incredible scouting, bringing in new players and those players immediately making contributions.
"That's exactly what happened this autumn when we brought in Abdallah Sima, the right winger, and the striker Jan Kuchta and they've combined for something like 15 goals in the last six matches. Kuchta is not physical, but he's a goalscorer, he knows where to be for crosses coming into the box.
"Sima has been an absolute revelation, he came from a Czech second division side and he's incredible in the air, very fast and this is going to be a real test of that attacking ability as we're facing an incredibly potent Leicester City."
At the other end of the pitch, Slavia have conceded just 11 league goals during 2020/21, and can call upon two experienced central defenders, who, along with goalkeeper Ondřej Kolář, will be tasked with trying to prevent Leicester scoring what could be crucial away goals during the first leg.
He continued: "We have a very stern defence which has been reinforced by the recent reacquisition of centre-back Simon Deli on loan from Club Brugge. Ondřej Kúdela is the other centre-back and they are extremely good together, so that will be a formidable partnership for Leicester to come up against.
"The conditions are also going to be something that maybe Leicester are not quite as ready for as a Slavia team that has been playing in sub-zero temperatures for three weeks. That's also something that we have to take into account, although the pitch shouldn't be a problem."
Slavia manager Jindřich Trpišovský has become a popular figure since taking over in December 2017 and has guided the club to back-to-back league titles.
Currently sitting 10 points clear of their city rivals and closest challengers, Sparta Prague, he is expected to bring a third successive Czech First League trophy in 2020/21 and will also want to emulate the league-cup double won during his first full season in charge.
His ability to adapt the team and continue producing results both at home and in Europe, despite regularly losing key players, is testament to his qualities as a manager, the journalist believes.
"He's known as 'the Czech Jürgen Klopp'," Pulkrabek explained. "He wears a baseball cap with his own monogram on the side, he's quite an enigma, he plays things very close to his chest, but he's extremely supportive of his players and they love him.
"He loves to play an attacking, very active and aggressive style. It's really fun to watch and it's bringing great success. There's a lot of pressing and he tries to keep everyone playing high up the pitch - a lot of on-ball pressure, a lot of quick passes and the system has really taken hold.
"They lost a lot of quality players but he's really building an infrastructure at this club where we lose players like Tomáš Souček and Vladimír Coufal, who have gone on to excel at West Ham, and we plugged in replacements without losing a beat, so he's really done something exceptional."