The Olimpico tonight will be sold out for the 17th time this season as Roma will host RedBull Salzburg in the Europa League’s playoff second leg.
The Giallorossi will have to to win with a two-goal margin after the 1-0 defeat away in the first leg. A tough loss came in the dying minutes after Jose Mourinho’s side wasted many chances.
Roma returned to winning ways three days after, beating Verona 1-0 but after the match Jose Mourinho has called the fans out for not being supportive towards his players.
Roma are unbeaten in their last 13 home games in the knockout stages of major European competitions with the last loss coming from Villarreal in 2017.
RedBull Salzburg are on a hot streak as they’ve collected three wins in four games across all competitions since football has restarted in Austria earlier this month.
Results from their last five matches in all competitions:
Roma:
W L D W L
RedBull Salzburg:
W W W L W
Team News
As announced during yesterday’s press conference by Jose Mourinho, none of Paulo Dybala, Tammy Abraham and Lorenzo Pellegrini are fully fit but they could play some role in the game today.
Dybala had not made the squad against Verona on Sunday as he suffered muscle fatigue in the first leg last Thursday and was subbed at half-time. Only yesterday he has trained with the group and it’s possibile that he will start from the bench.
Tammy Abraham is likely to be a starter despite the blow in the eye that forced him out of the Verona’s game. He had undergone a minor surgery and six stitches in his lower left eyelid were applied.
Nevertheless, he has been cleared and he will play with a special mask to protect the injured eye.
Lorenzo Pellegrini too has major chances to be back in the starting line-up after spending the entire Verona’s game on the bench as he wasn’t fully fit.
All three of them will undergo a final test this morning to understand if and how much they can play.
RedBull Salzburg will miss center-back Strahinja Pavlović as the Serbian was one booking away from suspension and he received a yellow card in the first leg.
Predicted XIs
Roma (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Celik, Cristante, Matic, Zalewski; Pellegrini, El Shaarawy; Abraham.
RedBull Salzburg (4-3-1-2): Kohn; Dedic, Bernardo, Solet, Ulmer; Capaldo, Gourna-Douath, Seiwald; Sucic; Fernando, Okafor.
Andrea Agostinelli | GIFN
