UEFA Conference League: Roma vs. Trabzon Preview, Odds, Prediction

Jose Mourinho and Roma host Trabzon in the Europa Conference League playoffs, aiming to protect the 2-1 lead created in the first leg. The Italian powerhouse and the Portuguese manager started the season well, and so far, everything is in the best possible shape for Il Lupi. Meanwhile, Trabzon formed a very good team, capable of even competing for the top three places in Turkey, but the international draw wasn’t lucky for them. Be sure that Gervinho, Hamsik, and the rest of the team won’t surrender in Rome but try to make a surprise.

Preview

AS Roma (-250) has just one defeat since Mourinho took over the wheel. In the first two competitive matches of the year, the team from the Italian capital posted two wins, one over Trabzon in Turkey, 1-2, and the other against Fiorentina in the domestic championship.

Tammy Abraham assisted twice on his debut, shutting down all the critical voices which didn’t support his arrival from Chelsea. Abraham was one of the most talented strikers of his generation. Even though he didn’t adjust to Tomas Tuchel’s style of play, Mourinho believes that the English player has solid potential.

The last five matches Roma played, including the preseason ones, all ended with three or more goals, four of them with over 3.5 scores. During that period, there has been just one contest with one team netting.

Trabzon (+650) has big plans for this year, and landing Gervinho and Marek Hamsik made them one of the dark horses for winning the Turkish Super Lig. Trabzon has two wins in the domestic championship, against Malatyaspor, 1-5, and Sivasspor, 2-1, and in between those two matches came to the defeat to Roma, 1-2.

Previously, Trabzon eliminated Molde from the ECL, playing 3-3 at home and proceeding to the next round after winning in Sweden on penalties.

This team prefers to play open and offensive football, with lots of goals on both sides. The stats are backing up that, with all five competitive games ending with both teams scoring and just one of them seeing under 2.5 hits.

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Chris Smalling will skip this match, and it could be possible that we see Abraham on the bench following an excellent start in Serie A.

As for the guests, all of their players are ready for this event.

Head to Head Games

The first match in Turkey saw Roma’s 1-2 victory. All three goals took place in the latter 45 minutes, with the guests drawing the first blood through Pellegrini. Cornelius responded, leveling the result, but Eldor Shomurdov set the final score nine minutes before the end.

Prediction

Roma should win, but we expect to see a high number of goals here, because Trabzon has nothing to lose, and the guests will attack, that is for sure. Apart from predicting Il Lupi’s win, our suggestion here would be to bet on over 2.5 goals, with the current odds on that at -166. Roma plays to score as many goals as possible, and it seems that such style isn’t bothering Mourinho, who is known as a defensive mastermind.

Pick: Roma to win -250
Over 2.5 goals -166