Roma's home form has been excellent of late, with the Serie A side unbeaten in their last eight games in Rome, winning seven of those. Porto, meanwhile, have struggled on the road in this competition, winning just one of their last five, and two of their last ten, away games in the Europa League.
Based on that, and the fact that Roma got the more favourable result away from home, we think they'll come out on top here. Roma 2-1 Porto.
The second leg of a finely balanced tie takes place in Rome this week as Roma lock horns with Porto in the Europa League playoff round.
Roma managed to hold Porto to a 1-1 draw in the first leg. The Italians took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Zeki Çelik in what was an even game. Midway through the second half, the Portuguese side equalised through Francisco Moura, and not long after that, Roma were reduced to ten men after Bryan Cristante was given his marching orders. Roma managed to hold for a draw, which in the grand scheme of things is a very good result for them.
Roma started the season poorly, but after a couple of managerial changes, they've improved notably under the wise hand of Claudio Ranieri, who has stabled what has been a turbulent season. As of now, with the talent in their team, they're one of the favourites for the Europa League trophy. They'll be expecting themselves to win it, and if they beat Porto, they'll have cleared a pretty big hurdle.
Porto will be disappointed about failing to take first leg lead. The game was an even tie and they were in no way outmatched, but if you'd asked them at the time the tie was drawn, they'd likely have admitted that they'd really want a first leg lead to increase their chances of progression.
Now, they're going to have to do things the hard way, and while their task is a huge one, it's far from a lost cause. They will, though, likely need a season-best performance in what has been a tumultuous campaign. Like Roma, Porto have cycled through several managers in an attempt to find their best level, and while they have started the settle, they're still short of where they'd like to be.
The Portuguese giants are 3rd in the Primera Liga, six points shy of Sporting CP, but the gap between them and Sporting - and also Benfica in 2nd - has been widening in recent weeks. They're still in the title race, but it's looking increasingly less likely that they're going to be in the mix come May, so their fans will desperately want the team to remain in contention in this competition so they can have something to shout about.
This game will be televised live to all subscribed UK viewers on TNT Sports 3.
Roma Team News:
Roma will be without Bryan Cristante and Alexis Saelemaekers, both of whom are unavailable through suspension, but Gianluca Mancini should be fit after recovering from a knock.
Lucas Gourna-Douath and Anass Salah-Eddine were not named in the team squad for this competition, while Devyne Rensch remains on the sidelines.
Predicted lineup: Svilar; Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Abdulhamid, Koné, Paredes, Angeliño; Soulé, Pellegrini; Dovbyk.
Porto Team News:
The Portuguese side will be without the injured duo of Marko Grujić and Martim Fernandes.
After resting a number of names at the weekend, Porto will likely make a host of changes here as they chase a huge result.
Predicted lineup: Costa; Djaló, Pérez, Otávio; Mario, Eustáquio, Varela, Moura; Pepe, Mora; Aghehowa.
Roma:
Roma are amidst a mixed run of form, with two wins, two draws and one loss from their last five games. At the weekend, a fine Matías Soulé free-kick handed them a 1-0 win over a ten-man Parma side, a result that followed the 1-1 draw with Porto last week.
Before that, Roma beat Venezia 1-0 thanks to a Paulo Dybala penalty, which followed a 3-1 loss to AC Milan and a 1-1 draw with Napoli, where an injury time goal from Angeliño rescued a point.
Porto:
Porto enter this game with two wins and three draws from their last five outings. Their most recent game saw them win 1-0 thanks to a goal from Francisco Moura, which was preceded by last week's draw with Roma.
Prior to that, a stoppage-time equaliser from Danny Namaso salvaged a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Sporting, which was preceded by a 2-2 draw with Rio Ave - where Nehuén Pérez and Otávio scored the goals - and a 1-0 win away at Maccabi Tel Aviv thanks to a goal from Nico González.
£10.00 returns £56.23
Over 2.5 Goals @ 100/142
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Both Teams To Score @ 5/6
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Both Teams To Score @ 4/5
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£10.00 returns £89.41
Both Teams To Score @ 4/5
Lausanne v GC Zürich • Sat 22 Feb 17:00
Over 2.5 Goals @ 100/200
Nassr v Ettifaq • Fri 21 Feb 17:00
Bournemouth @ 8/13
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Fulham @ 21/20
Fulham v Crystal Palace • Sat 22 Feb 15:00
£10.00 returns £248.52
Over 2.5 Goals @ 58/100
Southampton v Brighton • Sat 22 Feb 15:00
Over 2.5 Goals @ 4/7
Aston Villa v Chelsea • Sat 22 Feb 17:30
Both Teams To Score @ 5/6
Blackpool v Crawley • Sat 22 Feb 15:00
Stockport @ 82/100
Cambridge Utd v Stockport • Sat 22 Feb 15:00
Newport @ 2/1
Newport v Cheltenham • Sat 22 Feb 15:00
Results display the percentage of matches that have been BTTS, Over 2.5 Goals & Won or Drawn in the last 5 matches in all major Competitions and International Friendlies
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