Sparta Prague v Celtic live match stream

Our live match stream ahead of Thursday evening’s Europa League fixture Sparta Prague v Celtic is now up, kicking off at 5:55pm BST.

You can keep an eye on the commentary as it happens below, but first, we take a preview into the fixture, the lineups, predictions and much more.

In each side’s previous games, Odsonne Edouard converted a 79th-minute penalty before Diego Laxalt earned Celtic a point in stoppage time as they fought back from 2-0 down against Hibernian, who scored through Jamie Murphy and Kevin Nisbet at Easter Road.

Sparta Prague lost 4-2 to SK Dynamo in the Czech First League, which Leicester’s opponents sit 2nd in, taking 18 points from 8 games played, four points behind leaders Slavia Praha.

Victory on Thursday would see Celtic move off the bottom of Group H and into third place, two points behind AC Milan if they were to lose to Lille.

PRESS CONFERENCE:

“I have sort of reconciled myself with the fact that maybe I am not going to be everyone’s cup of tea,” Neil Lennon said in his press conference ahead of Thursday’s trip to Sparta Prague.

“But it is a great privilege doing this job, the club means a lot to me and it has done for the last 20 years.

“I’m strong, I feel strong, my backroom team are strong and the players will only get better and more consistent as we go along.”

“You have to put a sense of perspective. We’ve made a better start to the league than we did two years ago and went on to win the treble. We’ve lost one domestic game this calendar year.

“Since I’ve been back, we’ve won four trophies in a row, the team’s won 11 in a row. We’ve got a chance of winning 12.

“We are going through a sticky patch, all teams do and good teams and managers come through that and that’s what I firmly believe we‘ll do.

“We have to win tomorrow to stand any chance of qualifying. That’s our sole focus now. The reverse game here was as disappointing as we’ve been for a while and it’s important we motivate ourselves to correct that.”

GREEN BRIGADE STATEMENT:

An accompanying statement from the fan group said: “Neil Lennon and many of the current Celtic squad have delivered unprecedented success for our club and deserve enormous credit for their achievements.

“However, past accomplishments are not enough to excuse the level of performance and lack of desire we have endured throughout this momentous season.

“Despite having the best squad in the country, the football on display has been dismal, lacking in ideas and belief.

“Many of our best players have disappointed and we have performed poorly both domestically and in European competition, winning only two games from our previous eight.

“Whilst we would love nothing more than to see Neil Lennon win us the championship we are part of a growing element of the Celtic support that has sadly concluded he is unable to turn our season around.

“After a decade of unrivalled footballing and financial dominance it is disappointing to find ourselves 11 points off the league summit and virtually out of the Europa League, having failed to make it past even the second round of qualification for the Champions League.

“We appreciate all that Neil Lennon has done for the club and endured in his time in Scotland, however there is simply too much at stake to persevere in hope rather than expectation and a managerial change needs to be made.

“Celtic Football Club is bigger than us all, and the good of the club must come first.

“Peter Lawwell and the Celtic board must act now in a bid to save 10 In A Row as well as their own legacies.

“Should they fail to deliver this title it will be them who are held to account.”

FORM:

Sparta Prague Europa League form: LLW
Sparta Prague form (all competitions): WLLWLL

Celtic Europa League form: LDL
Celtic form (all competitions): DDWLWD

LINEUPS:

Sparta Prague possible starting lineup:
Heca; Vindheim, Lischka, Plechaty, Hanousek; Pavelka, Krejci; Plavsic, Dockal, Moberg Karlsson; Julis

Celtic possible starting lineup:
Bain; Frimpong, Bitton, Ajer, Laxalt; Brown, McGregor; Christie, Rogic, Elyounoussi; Edouard

SportsMole predicts:

Celtic, who have failed to keep a clean sheet in seven of their last eight matches in all competitions, come up against a Sparta Prague side who have only kept one clean sheet in their 2020-21 campaign.

Both sides will see this as an important fixture that could decided their Europa League fate but may find it difficult to take all three points.

Score prediction: Sparta Prague 2-2 Celtic

Time to keep updated with our Sparta Prague v Celtic live match stream, with kick off from 5:55pm BST…