Sparta Praha v H. Beer-Sheva background

Sparta moved to the top of Group K with victory at Hapoel Beer-Sheva on matchday three, and will look to secure that position with another three points in Prague.

Previous meetings
• Sparta became the first visiting side to win at Beer-Sheva's Turner Stadium on 20 October; the 1-0 success marked the teams' first meeting and Beer-Sheva's first encounter with Czech opposition.

• Sparta's only past experience of Israeli clubs came in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League group stage, where they won 3-1 at home and drew 1-1 away to Hapoel Kiryat Shmona.

Form guide
• Sparta are unbeaten in three European home games this season (W2 D1).

• Matěj Pulkrab's goal for Sparta on matchday three ended a three-match European run without conceding for Beer-Sheva.

• Sparta have made it to the knockout phase in three of their seven UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, including three of their last four attempts.

• The Israeli side are making their UEFA group stage debut this term, having been eliminated by Celtic in the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Beer Sheva to Prague is around 2,700km.

• Sparta's David Lafata is the club's all-time top scorer in European competition with 22 goals; Beer-Sheva's lead European marksmen have scored two each: Yossi Benayoun and Sergei Gusev along with current players Maor Buzaglo, Ovidiu Hoban and John Ogu.

The coaches
• Zdeněk Ščasný stepped aside as Sparta coach in the wake of a 2-0 home reverse to Slavia in the 25 September Prague derby. His former assistants David Holoubek, Stanislav Hejkal and Zdeněk Svoboda are in temporary command.

• Beer-Sheva boss Barak Bakhar steered the team to their first Israeli championship in 2015/16, his first term in charge. He previously landed the 2013/14 Israeli Cup at the helm of Kiryat Shmona, where he had spent the bulk of his playing career as a defender.