AS Roma vs. Villarreal Preview
Where: Stadio Olimpico – Rome, Italy
When: Thursday, February 23, 2017, 1:00 PM ET
Line: AS Roma -149 vs. Villarreal +335, draw +255; total 2.5 – view all Europa League lines
Writer’s Pick: Draw (+255)
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Betting on AS Roma (-149)
Roma basically have one foot in the door of the Europa League round of 16 after their absolutely dominant 4-0 win over Villarreal in Spain last week. Edin Dzeko fired home a hat-trick for the Italians, who have been in irresistible form of late.
They’ve won their last five games in a row after stumbling to Sampdoria, winning those matches by a combined score of 16-2. Dzeko was once again on the scoresheet in their 4-1 home win against Torino over the weekend.
Roma have been close to untouchable at home all season long. They’ve won all 12 of their home games in Serie A, scoring 36 goals and conceding just 8. They’ve also won their two Coppa Italia home games. And in the Europa League, they’ve scored at least three goals in their three home games. Although, they did have one 3-3 draw with Austria Vienna.
But with this round-of-32 tie virtually sealed, and a big away matchup with Inter looming in the league this weekend, it’s very likely manager Luciano Spalletti makes some changes to his team. That almost surely means no Dzeko or captain Daniele De Rossi. Roma can still win without those two, but it’ll be a lot less certain.
Betting on Villarreal (+335)
Villarreal’s European journey is all but over following their demoralizing home defeat. That loss was hardly a shock given the shaky form they had shown since returning from the winter break. They had only won once in their last eight games prior to that drubbing, with five draws and two defeats. They also needed a stoppage time winner to beat Real Sociedad 1-0 over the weekend.
The prospect of the Spaniards clawing back that four-goal deficit – or even scoring a narrow win – seem unlikely, though, especially given their struggles on the road. They are 3-6-2 in 11 away games this season, and have scored a grand total of 9 goals. However, they do have the stingiest away defensive record with just six goals given up. Villarreal also drew their previous three Europa League away games.
Much like Roma, though, Villarreal also have a huge game coming up, as they host Real Madrid in the league this weekend. They could view that as a more meaningful match, which means they too could spare some of their first-choice players from participating in the second leg.
Writer’s Prediction
Roma take their foot off the gas and play out a 0-0 second-leg draw (+255).
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