- Date and Time: Thursday, December 12, 6:45 PM GMT + 1
- Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy
Roma vs Sporting Braga Preview
Roma
Roma, the veritable giants of Italian football, will face a challenge when they take on Sporting Braga in a UEFA Europa League encounter at home on Thursday. Despite being such a historic club, Roma have not been in their best form in Serie A this season and rank in the lowly 11th spot on the table.
In the Europa League, they’re 22nd with six points so far. They’ve won just one of the five matches they’ve played this season, which will weigh down on them immensely.
However, this match against Braga will provide Claudio Ranieri and his side with something positive to work on, and one can be sure that the likes of Paulo Dybala and Stephan El Shaarawy will be keen on overturning their fortunes. Midfielders Paredes and Koné will have to play significant roles in ensuring that their three-man backline does not come to much harm.
Sporting Braga
Sporting Braga will have to play as if they have nothing to lose. They’ll need to be at their very best to beat Roma, whose defence is known to be legendary. The fact that Braga play away from home in a raucous stadium will spur them on to give their best in this encounter.
Interestingly, they’re ranked higher than Giallorossi in the Europa League table—they’re 18th with seven points to their name. Although Braga will be pleased to have won just two out of the five matches they have played so far, they know they’ll be challenged to the core in this game against Roma.
The home team will push their limits when exploiting space on the wings, but attackers Bruma and Horta need to ensure one of them overloads on the sides to allow their fullbacks to exploit the space and run forward to provide dangerous balls into the final third.
Bet hereRoma vs Sporting Braga Prediction
- Pick: Both teams to score
- Odds: 1.8 (22Bet)
- Score prediction: Roma 2-1 Sporting Braga
We expect both teams to score in this game. Neither Roma nor Braga appear to be the outright favourites to win, and we expect it to be a close-run affair, albeit with some favour towards the home team. Both teams prefer a 3-4-3 formation, which means that a lot of emphasis will be put on doing the dirty work in midfield, winning second balls, and creating tussles.
As expected, this game will be quite a physical one as well. I Giallorossi have won just one game out of their last five encounters, whereas Os Arcebispos have done only slightly better, winning three out of their previous five matches. Roma scored in three of those five games, while Braga scored in all five. Hence, this also points towards them getting onto the scoresheet in this match.
Roma vs Sporting Braga Prediction, Betting Tip
- Pick: Total over 1.5 goals
- Odds: 1.24 (22Bet)
We expect over 1.5 goals to be scored in this game since both teams will be keen on protecting their backline as much as possible. The focus will be on defence in this match, and strikers may have to wait for their opportunities to rise out of the tussles in the centre of the park.
Since both teams like to play three-man backlines, a lot of importance will be given to how the wings are used and how quickly the midfielders can release the balls and create transitions from defence to attack. Neither side is expected to score heavily in this encounter; in fact, Roma and Braga have scored more than two goals just once in their respective last five encounters.
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