Europa League: Sevilla vs. Roma Betting Preview, Odds, Prediction

According to all the soccer fans around the globe, the one-legged matchup of the Europa League‘s Round of 16 between Sevilla and AS Roma promises a lot. These two sides ended their respective leagues with excellent results, and it seems that they aimed to raise the form before the start of the EL contest. Sevilla is the most successful club in the history of this competition, while on the other hand, Roma is one of the most popular clubs in Europe, yet without a major continental trophy.

Preview

Sevilla (+120) hasn’t lost 17 straight matches in all competitions, counting the ones before the COVID-19 pause. After the comeback, Rojoblancos played 11 games, winning six of them and posting five draws. However, their finish of the La Liga campaign was superb, with five wins and a draw. 

During that period, Sevilla kept its net intact in all but one event, proving that it has one of Europe’s most reliable defenses.

This is a tactically perfect team and knows how to find a weak spot of the rivals, especially once they play in the European competitions. Whether it is that a special aura of the team from Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan or something else we don’t quite know, but in EL, this side really dominates over, regardless of the opponent on the other side.

Roma (+250) prefers the opposite tactics completely, when compared to the Spaniards. Il Lupi are aggressive, want to attack, and have a much better offense than defense. 

Two goals scored per match are usual when this team plays, and that happened in the previous eight events, including Roma. During that span, Paolo Fonseca’s guys recorded seven triumphs and a draw against Inter, beating even Juventus in the last round in Turin, 1-3.

Latest News

Nemanja Gudelj and Sebastien Corchia are out for Sevilla, and they won’t appear on Thursday. This also applies to Fernando and Vaclik.

Antonio Mirante has problems with his ankle, while Veretout is out too only because of yellow cards.

Head to Head Matches

There weren’t any official games between Sevilla and Roma before, but we found two friendly matches. In 2017 Sevilla defeated Roma with 2-1. Two years prior that, these two sides played a memorable game in which Roma won, 6-4, with the note that the Italians had a 6-0 lead at one moment.

Edin Dzeko scored in both events for Il Lupi.

Prediction

As you saw from all the above-written, these sides are in excellent shape right now. What might be a little edge for Roma is the fact that they finished their league this weekend, while Sevilla did the same almost three weeks ago. Yet, that doesn’t have to mean anything, when teams like these meet. 

Sevilla’s rock-solid defense will slow the game a little bit, but we are far from claiming that it might reduce the efficiency in this clash. A moderate number of goals, 2 or 3, is the most likely outcome, and we are highlighting this as our recommendation. Moneyline here is +105.

It would be smart to walk away from betting on the full-time result. We believe that both sides have equal chances to triumph, despite what the odds say.