Mladá Boleslav will once again play that special match, when it will be led as a visiting team in the record, even though it will be playing on a pitch it knows well. The Hradec “Votroci” continue to use Boleslav land as their temporary refuge. However, they plunder the soil in central Bohemia quite well, unlike Boleslav, which entered the spring on the wrong foot.
Also in the second season after promotion from a lower competition, Hradec Králové remains high in the table. He’s hovering in its upper half and there’s no indication he’ll be involved in a fight for retention. After the winter break, the East Bohemians have already collected both a win and a draw with a defeat. The last time they got a point was for a 2:2 draw at Sigma in Olomouc, after which they are in seventh place in the sixteen-member peloton.
Although Hradec twice failed to maintain the lead in Olomouc, Votrok’s assistant head coach Stanislav Hejkal also found several positives in the East Bohemians’ game. “Mainly, we finally scored a goal from the set piece, that’s very important. It’s also due to the fact that we used taller players – Ševčík, Čihák. When I consider that last season we had the shapely Král and Mejdro there, then in this context we can be satisfied now” he said.
Boleslav cannot be satisfied with the game after the winter break. Coach Pavel Hoftych’s team won only one point in three games, starting with a goalless draw with Zbrojovka from Brno. Then, as expected, the Central Bohemians lost to Prague’s Letná Sparta, and a week ago they came up empty-handed again at home when Pardubice caught them by surprise. After these results, Boleslav remains in the unsatisfactory tenth position in the table.
And it can be worse if Středočechy catches another juice. “We are facing an extremely difficult opponent who is excellently organized, physically mature and very productive. He knows how to score maximum goals from minimal chances. We will succeed if we match him with our commitment and start to assert ourselves in the end.” said Marek Kulič, assistant to the head coach of Boleslav.
In the match against Hradec, Boleslav will again have to do without defender Denis Donát, midfielder Samuel Dancák, winger Antonín Vaníček and forward Vojtěch Stránský. The Raiders continue to have problems in attack. Daniel Vašulín remains injured, another alternative to the point Matěj Ryneš has to serve a disciplinary punishment after four cards awarded in the season. Filip Kubala can return, but his start is still uncertain, just like in the case of the back Michal Leible. Alongside Vašulín, midfielder Jakub Kučera is also languishing.
FC Hradec Králové – probable line-up:
Reichl – Klíma, Čihák, Ševčík – Gabriel, Kodeš, Rada, Novotný – Smrž, Trusa – Koubek
FK Mladá Boleslav – probable line-up:
Seda – Šimek, Carafiat, Suchý – Tomič, Kubista, Mareček, Fulnek – Kušej, Škoda, Ladra
Tipsport odds: 3.15 – 3.35 – 2.34
Tip EuroFotbal.cz: 1
