Sabah and Slavia Prague chase first Champions League win in Baku

Sabah arrives at this matchup still nursing a fresh wound: in its league phase debut in the Champions League, the club fell 4-0, finishing with no goals scored and four conceded. Standing across the pitch will be a Slavia Prague side that also failed to pick up points in its opener, a 3-2 defeat, but at least showed it can cause problems going forward. Two winless teams playing for more than just pride at the Baku Olympic Stadium.

The difference between the two sides lies in the details. Sabah, coached by Valdas Dambrauskas, has one loss in its lone tournament match, with zero goals scored and four allowed. Across its last five matches in all competitions, the club picked up three wins and a draw, with just one defeat in that span, a sign that its European stumble doesn't fully reflect its current form. Slavia Prague, under Jindrich Trpisovsky, also has a loss in its league phase match, but with two goals scored and three conceded, a scoreline that points to a team that created danger. Over its last five matches, Slavia won three and lost two, a recent record that's more uneven but carries some punch up front.

In the tournament's overall standings, among 36 teams, both clubs sit in the lower half: Slavia Prague in 24th place and Sabah in 34th, both with zero points after one match played and a negative goal difference. With just one game played by each side, the table still says little about the teams' real level; it's an early data point, not a verdict.

It's also worth looking at the season's trends, even if they come from a single sample and shouldn't be confused with the tournament record: in the 2026 Champions League, home and away combined, neither team has kept a clean sheet (0% for both). For Slavia, one figure stands out: Danijel Sturm has scored twice in that same sample, a name to watch in the Czech side's attack.

Probable lineups

Sabah, based on an estimate drawn from its recent matches, could start Stas Pokatilov in goal behind a back line of Tymoteusz Puchacz, Rahman Dasdamirov, Aden McCarthy and Akim Zedadka. The midfield would likely feature Veljko Simic, Ivan Lepinjica, Umarali Rakhmonaliev, Du Queiroz and Christian Nwachukwu, with Joy-Lance Mickels as the attacking reference. This is a probable lineup, with medium reliability based on available data.

For Slavia Prague, the confidence level in the projected eleven is lower, but the base would likely include Jakub Markovic in goal, a defense of Igoh Ogbu, Stepán Chaloupek, Tomás Vlcek, David Zima and Tomás Holes, a midfield of David Jurásek, Michal Sadílek, Alexandr Buzek and Oscar Dorley, and Mojmír Chytil up top.

What the numbers say

Our model gives Sabah a slight edge for playing at home, though neither side stands out clearly:

These are close figures, with a draw looming as a real possibility and a combined expected goals total of around 3.04, suggesting a match with chances at both ends. This is our own estimate based on the season's trends, not a betting line or a definitive prediction.

With both teams needing a first win in this edition of the Champions League, the clash in Baku looks evenly matched on paper. Sabah will look to use home advantage to turn things around; Slavia Prague, with the firepower it showed in its opener, will try to leave with all three points on the road.