Coverage of tonight's games has just started on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound on MW and digital.

Joining host Richard Gordon are former Rangers players Mark Hateley, Charlie Adam and Richard Foster, with former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner and James McFadden adding their expertise from Celtic Park.

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Defeat in Prague would put Rangers well on the back foot in Group A given they lost their opening game 2-0 at home to group favourites Lyon.

Sparta will be looking to build on a 0-0 draw away to fourth seeds Brondby and improve on last season's record of two defeats and only one win at home in the group stage.

However, Rangers have an impressive away record in the Europa League, losing only one of their most recent nine away matches and winning four of them. Indeed, they were unbeaten on the road in all five trips abroad in the competition last season, including a 1-1 draw with Slavia in Prague.

Sparta, who sit third in their domestic league, are unbeaten in six home games this season and undefeated in four outings overall - winning the latest two away from home.

Ondrej Celustka got the ball rolling with the opening goal in the weekend's impressive 5-2 win over Zlin but expects a tougher task against Rangers as "they concede few goals".

The defender also insists he is not assuming his side will repeat their two convincing wins over Celtic last season, pointing out that a "year is a long time and every match is different".

"We do not intend to assume that we are doing well against the Scots," added. "We expect it to be a very unpleasant and aggressive opponent."

That last bit was probably lost in translation, but we get the gist.

Sparta won the last of their 36 domestic titles in 2014 but finished runners-up last season after Vaclav Kotal was replaced by former Czech national team coach Pavel Vrba in February.

They sit third at present, but suggestions are they have improved under the 57-year-old who previously led Ludogorets to the Bulgarian title.

The emerging star in the ranks is Adam Hlozek, the 19-year-old who has scored 32 goals and provided 25 assists in his 91 appearances, leading to 10 international caps.

Rangers will be looking to minimise that threat and will know a fair amount about another winger of the Sparta books - David Moberg Karlsson. The Swede who had a short spell on loan to Kilmarnock from Sunderland does, though, start on the bench tonight.

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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard bristled in his pre-match media conference when it was suggested his side's season needed kicking into life.

Indeed, their home defeat by Lyon is their only reverse in 10 games and they do sit top of the Scottish Premiership again, although Gerrard did admit that "we haven't got off to the best of starts" to the Europa League.

"Losing the first game always adds a little bit of tension," he said. "I wouldn't say it was must-not-lose, it is not the end of the world, but it certainly adds an awful lot of pressure if we don't take something from the game."

Sparta defender Ondrej Celustka insists that Rangers' stormy meeting with city rivals Slavia will have no impact on tonight's game.

"We know what the Rangers match with Slavia was like, but now Sparta is here, focusing only on our performance," he said. "What happened in the spring is completely beyond us.

"If we were to be provoked by something, it would hurt us."

Celustka is pleased that Uefa has allowed 10,000 children to attend the game despite his own club's racist chanting charge but admits the atmosphere "may be different than usual".

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Rangers' trip to Prague has been overshadowed somewhat by the spectre of racism.

Ibrox midfielder Glen Kamara was racially abused in last season's Europa League last-16 tie against Slavia Prague, with Czech defender Ondrej Kudela given a 10-game ban.

Kamara received a three-game suspension for assaulting Kudela post-match, while Rangers striker Kemar Roofe was banned for four matches after his challenge fractured the skull of goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar.

To add to that, tonight's match will be played in front of 10,000 children after Uefa relented on a stadium closure following racist chanting by Sparta fans towards Monaco's Aurelien Tchouameni.

It will mean a slightly strange - and surely less hostile - atmosphere.

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Sparta Prague: Nita, Wiesner, Panak, Celustka, Hancko, Sacek, Pavelka, Pesek, Haraslin, Minchev, Hlozek.

Substitutes: Kotek, Gabriel, Mobeg Karlsson, Dockal, Drchal, Pulkrab, Stetina, Polidar, Vindheim, Karabec, Vitik.

Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Balogun, Bassey, Barisic, Kamara, Davis, Bacuna, Aribo, Roofe, Sakala.

Substitutes: McLaughlin, McCrorie, Hagi, Lundstram, Patterson, Morelos, Wright, Kelly, Arfield, McClelland.

Here's some major team news to start you off, with Connor Goldson a surprise omission from the Rangers squad, meaning Steven Gerrard fields a makeshift central defence pairing of Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun.

Alfredo Morelos drops to the bench, with Fashion Sakala preferred up front and there's a first start for Juninho Bacuna, the 24-year-old midfielder signed in the summer from Huddersfield Town.

Allan McGregor returns in goal as expected in place of Jon McLaughlin, with Borna Barisic taking Bassey's spot at left-back and Steven Davis back in the midfield engine room.

Ianis Hagi and John Lundstram drop to the bench from the side that won 1-0 away to Dundee and are joined there by fit-again fellow midfielder Scott Arfield.

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It's a big night for Scotland's big two in the Europa League, with Celtic and Rangers both hoping to recover from opening-day defeats in the group stage.

Steven Gerrard's Rangers are first up at 17:45 GMT, with a return to Prague shrouded in controversy - this time to face Sparta.

Ange Postecoglou's Celtic, meanwhile, host crack German outfit Bayer Leverkusen at 20:00.

Stay with us for the build-up, live commentary and post-match reaction from both games.

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