AS Roma vs Manchester United
Manchester United are a mere 90 minutes away from making their second Europa League final in five years. The Red Devils will bring a huge lead to their semi-final second leg against Roma after a 6-2 win at Old Trafford, so they can afford to lose by as many as 3-0 and still go through.
Meanwhile, the Italians are woefully out of form and will be significantly shorthanded after suffering a trio of injuries in the first leg, so the Europa League 2021 odds of them overturning their deficit are not very good.
Talking Points
Roma are burning
It’s all going wrong for Roma at the moment. After their disastrous 6-2 defeat to Man United at Old Trafford, they also went down 2-0 to Sampdoria over the weekend. It was their third straight defeat and fourth in five games as their once-promising season has quickly gone up in flames.
That recent run of defeats likely means the end for under-fire manager Paulo Fonseca, with reports claiming that Maurizio Sarri has been lined up to replace him.
With Fonseca seemingly headed for the exit, Roma’s already monumental task of turning around a four-goal deficit against United will be made even more difficult.
The Giallorossi have a spate of injuries to deal with, as midfielder Jordan Veretout, first-choice goalkeeper Pau Lopez, and wing-back Leonardo Spinazzola all had to be subbed off due to injury within the first 37 minutes of the first leg.
Those three are unlikely to feature in the second leg against United. Midfielder Amadou Diawara, who picked up a groin injury late in the first leg, is also a doubt.
With veteran Antonio Mirante looking so unconvincing against United after taking over for Lopez in goal, Fonseca opted to start Daniel Fuzato against Samp. But the 23-year-old also committed a crucial error which led to one of the goals, so Fonseca’s goalkeeping options are not good.
Red Devils ready and well-rested after postponement
Manchester United are in a fantastic position to make it back to the Europa League final for the first time since winning the competition in 2017.
After a shaky start to the first leg, the Red Devils recovered and ran out comfortable 6-2 winners at Old Trafford. Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani were both brilliant and produced a wealth of Europa League 2021 highlights with two goals and two assists apiece.
United will also be well-rested for the second leg at the Stadio Olimpico after their Premier League clash against Liverpool was postponed due to fan protests.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will now have the luxury of fielding his strongest side if he so chooses to see the tie off in Rome.
Solskjaer still played the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, and Edinson Cavani in their quarter-final second leg against Granada despite a 2-0 first leg away win, so he is unlikely to take any chances.
Cavani scored in that second leg against Granada and is United’s in-form forward. The 34-year-old marksman has five goals and two assists in his last five appearances.
United have had a terrific away record this season. They are unbeaten away from home in the Premier League (10 wins, seven draws) and have lost just once in their last 17 away matches in all competitions.
History
Roma have a decent history of facing enormous first-leg deficits in Europe, a couple of which came in their 2017-18 Champions League run.
After losing 4-1 at Barcelona in the quarter-final first leg, they completed a historic comeback by beating Barca 4-0 at home and went through on away goals.
They once again faced a three-goal deficit in the semi-finals after losing 5-2 at Liverpool. They did not end up going through, but they came so close to forcing extra time as they won the second leg at home, 4-2.
As for United, Solskjaer will be keen to make the first final of his managerial career after losing his first four semi-finals with United. That includes last year’s Europa League semi-final defeat to Sevilla, which was a one-legged tie.
Betting Tip
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AS Roma vs Manchester United | AS Roma Asian Handicap +0.50 @ 1.96 |
| May 07, 03:00 (GMT+8) |
SBOTOP odds have Manchester United installed as significant 1.95 favourites to win the second leg, while Roma are priced at 3.15. A draw is 3.95.
Clearly, United have the upper hand and will likely go through to the final quite comfortably. But the question is whether Solskjaer’s side will exert too much effort since the tie looks all wrapped up.
I suspect that United will be content to go through the motions and allow Roma to salvage some pride at home in the second leg.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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