The fate of Slavia Prague and Fenerbahce were closely intertwined this season back in August. The Czech and Turkish clubs could have crossed paths in Champions League qualification, but each lost to the team that is currently making waves in the overall stage of Europe's elite tournament. We're talking about Lille, who have managed to beat Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in half of their Champions League programme, as well as taking points away from Juventus. In the penultimate round, the French team overcame the resistance of Fenerbahce in extra time, and in the play-off round, the Doges got past Prague 2-0 and 1-2 on goal difference. Once in the Europa League, both teams are not too fortunate. Both Turkish and Czech clubs have the risk of "flying" even past the 1/16 finals. In this regard, the match in Prague is expected to be uncompromising. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as the favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 2.27 on their victory.

Slavia Prague have not had any easy opponents in the current Europa League. And three times the Praguers have played away. In Frankfurt am Main and Bilbao the Czech team lost with the same score 0:1, and in Bulgaria, they beat Ludogorets 2:0. Slavia's only home game of the tournament was against Ajax, but ended in a 1-1 draw. In the Czech Championship, the hosts of the upcoming match are confidently leading, ahead of Viktoria Plzen on eight points after fifteen rounds. Such results indicate that it is not accidental to give the hosts the status of favourites.

Fenerbahçe, no matter how hard they tried at the end of last season, never caught up with Galatasaray in the fight for the title in Turkey. In the current local Super League, the capital team is in the same position. Fenerbahçe are not doing well on the European Cup stage. The home win over Union St Gillois was the only one for the Turks in the four rounds of the Europa League. The Istanbul side made peace with Twente and Manchester United, while Alkmaar were defeated by AZ. Slavia Prague and Fenerbahce crossed paths in the spring of 2022 at the 1/16 finals of the Conference League. Both matches were won by the Czech club with a score of 3:2. Slavia will not lose the upcoming match at home.