Leverkusen vs. AS Roma: Preview and betting tips

On Thursday evening, Adam Hložek and co. will take to the pitch again against AS Roma, and they will try to get past Jose Mourinho’s gang, who are very strong in these stages of the European Cups!

AS Roma are definitely not in some good playing condition, having only won their first home fixture against Leverkusen in their last 6 games.

However, it should be noted that their opponents have been Atalanta, AC Milan, in-form Monza, Inter and Bologna. In these 5 duels, José Mourinho’s team took 3 points.

At the weekend, the Portuguese coach spared several of his players as it looks more like they are trying to succeed in the Europa League, as AS Roma are already 6 points behind fourth-placed Lazio in Serie A.

With a question mark, however, is the start of the team’s best player Paulo Dybala, who replaced striker Belotti in the 77th in the opening game. However, he and Stephan El Shaarawy were both absent in the match against Bologna at the weekend.

However, Leverkusen could be similarly described as having failed to win four games in which they have scored only two goals. In the Bundesliga, meanwhile, they share the same points tally with 6th-placed Wolfsburg, who hold the ticket to next season’s Europa League thanks to a better scoreline.

This time, however, it is Bayer who will have to be more active again as they have to erase the one-goal lead the Italians have built up at home.

But nothing else can be expected. Already in the opening duel, Leverkusen had 61.9% of ball possession and given the situation, it can be expected that this figure might be even higher in the rematch.

However, Mourinho is a very experienced man when it comes to cup games. He has dominated the Champions League twice, won the Europa League in 2016/17 with Manchester United and won the trophy for AS last season, but that was in the Conference League.

This time, too, the Portuguese coach’s team will be the favourites to qualify, and a big one, at least according to the bookmakers. However, Leverkusen is a strong team and the first match showed that they are evenly matched opponents. Personally, therefore, I see the chances fairly even, with the Italian team’s side being dominated mainly by Mourinho’s aforementioned experience.

Source: Whoscored, UEFA