Europa League - Roma vs. Bayer Leverkusen - prediction, team news, lineups
AS Roma is back to the battle of the Europa League title! AS Roma will be welcoming Bayer Leverkusen at Stadio Olimpico on Thursday for the first leg of the semi-finals.
AS Roma will enter this match after a 2 - 2 draw with Napoli while Bayer Leverkusen also secured a 2 - 2 draw against Stuttgart.
Statistics
AS Roma hasn’t been at their best this season without much luck in the Serie A or the Coppa Italia title. Their hope of winning a title this season lies in the Europa League campaign but they will need to do their best in the remaining games.
In the quarter-finals, they put up a great performance in winning AC Milan at both home and away to progress to the semi-finals; thanks to the brilliant effort from Paulo Dybala. AS Roma has only lost one in the last 8 games in all competitions — and this indicates their strong commitment in winning important games.
In past meetings against Bayer Leverkusen, they have kept an impressive performance but that can’t be used to judge the outcome of this matchup. Especially when Bayer Leverkusen has kept a 45-game unbeaten record this season to win the Bundesliga title without hassle.
Leverkusen has now picked up the Bundesliga title, after finishing first, even with just a few games left to be played in the league. However, they will be eager to finish the job in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final with AS Roma on Thursday evening.
Just last week, they secured a 2 - 2 draw with Stuttgart; thanks to the late goal scored by Robert Andrich and an early second-half goal by Amine Adli.
Bayer Leverkusen has kept a 45-game unbeaten record in all competitions — including the 3-consecutive draw in a row against West Ham (1-1), Dortmund (1-1), and Stuttgart (2-2).
Bayer Leverkusen has won the Bundesliga title and is close to winning the DFB-Pokal cup with only one game left to be played against Kaiserslautern on May 25. Their chances of winning the Europa League title have increased over time.
In the last 5 meetings against AS Roma, Bayer Leverkusen has 3 draws while AS Roma has won 2 out of those 5 games.
Team news
Roma will have to play without Zeki Celik who’s out on suspension. Roma might have to make some changes and this will include Diego Llorente and Leandro Paredes back in the starting XI after serving a suspension.
As for Bayer Leverkusen, they will have to play without the services of Granit Xhaka, Robert, and Exequiel Palacios will be unavailable. It’s uncertain whether Adam Hlozek and Borja Iglesias are fit to participate in the Thursday fixture.
Roma's possible starting lineup:
Svilar; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ndicka, Angelino; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy
Bayer Leverkusen's possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Wirtz, Adli; Schick
Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen betting tips:
Both teams to score