Slavia again solves the problem in the defensive zone. Who will play against Union?

Slavia will open the Conference League group against Union Berlin on Thursday, but coach Jindřich Trpišovský has to solve defensive problems. The most pressing position is again the stopper pairing, who will start against the Germans?

David Zima left on the last day of transfers, Ondrej Kúdela is dealing with ankle problems, Tomas Holeš is serving a suspension for a red card from Warsaw. David Hovorka is injured for a long time.

Only Ladislav Takács is 100% available at the moment, but he finished the league match with Slovácko in cramps and had to be substituted. Trpišovský can at least be glad that Kacharaba and Ousous have recovered.

“We are clear about one position, the other one we are solving, we have two options. The typology of the opponent, who plays with two strikers, will decide. One of them is strong and goes behind the defense, the other one bounces in the space between. The second factor is that on Sunday we have a match at Bohemka, where typologically we will definitely need one of them. We are still deciding,” said Trpišovský at the press conference before the match.

Another unpleasant factor is the loss of Ondrej Kolar. Aleš Mandous showed a great performance against Slovácko, but the disjointedness with the defensive four can be noticeable in difficult matches.

The most likely scenario at the moment is that Takács and Kacaraba will play next to each other. After all, both have more experience than the 21-year-old Ousou, who has played only 45 minutes for Slavia in Karviná.

Against Union, there will be a chance for a lot of unheralded faces. Samek, Ekpai, Schranz, Mandous or Ousou will be able to prove themselves in European cups.

“Some will probably make their debut. They’ll be able to show themselves against teams like this. There have been a lot of departures abroad in recent years, to the top leagues, I think just based on performance in the European Cups or in the national team,” Trpišovský is convinced.

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