- Season record: Sigma Olomouc won 12, drew 7 and lost 11 games in the 1. Liga regular season.
- Form: Bohemians were the better side in the closing weeks of the season with three successive league wins.
- Head-to-head: Three of the last five meetings finished as draws or with only a single goal separating the teams.
Bohemians can’t afford to leave anything in the game
It’s an interesting contrast in styles that will be on show at Ďolíček on Saturday when Bohemians 1905 welcome SK Sigma Olomouc in the first leg of their 1. Liga - Placement Playoffs 2026. Veselý’s Bohemians are a compact, disciplined and risk-averse 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 side that prioritises defensive solidity and controlling the tempo of the game - in contrast to Sigma’s transition-based approach.
With the weather promising to be good in Prague, this game should be played at a good pace and it will be up to the home side to make the contest tough. Bohemians finished 10th in the Czech league, which means they didn’t have enough of a cushion to avoid the placement playoffs.
Their record of 10-6-14 was built on a low-scoring attack of 26 goals, while Veselý’s men defended resolutely enough to keep them in the division. Aleš Čermák has been their creative force and the best assist provider, but Milan Ristovski is their talisman.
The forward has come good with goals in April - part of the home team’s three April wins, including a 2-0 derby win over Sparta Prague.
Sigma are a mixed bag
This is a tricky tie for Sigma, who arrive having lost two April fixtures, but beat Slovácko 2-1 in April, a result that was crucial to their 7th-placed finish in the 1. Liga. They scored as many goals as they conceded in the regular season - 34 - and they will need all their squad depth for this two-legged playoff.
Jan Matoušek is one of the few players who can find space and time in the penalty area and did just that to get Bohemians’ winner against Baník. Midfielder Dominik Janošek can give the Olomouc side a spark and he recently scored the winner against Slovácko.
The visitors are a better team than their inconsistent results suggest and interim manager Pavel Hapal is an experienced campaigner that could bring an unpredictable factor to this tie. The Olomouc squad had gelled around Tomáš Janotka’s aggressive pressing game and will now have to adapt to Hapal’s approach.
Hosts are coming in hot
Form and tactics
Veselý’s tactical discipline and focus on set-pieces have been the key to the hosts’ recent run and their ability to perform in one-off big games. They entered the playoffs in good style, winning three successive games in April before being pegged back by Hradec Králové in the final game of the regular season.
Squad news and prediction
But there is an opportunity to profit from the 2.21 favorites because Sigma are good value at 2.93 with the draw at 3.58.
- Sigma’s squad depth may be stretched with the red card Louis Lurvink picked up in the win over Slovácko likely to affect their line-up for the first-leg.
- Bohemians are in a good place and can win this game at home, but Sigma have edged the recent head-to-heads.
- Back the hosts to edge a win in a hard-fought game because they know a win will take the pressure off the return leg.
