AS Roma vs Feyenoord

February 22, 2024

Feyenoord will hope to beat the odds when they travel to face AS Roma in the second leg of the Europa League knockout round playoff tie.

Feyenoord and AS Roma played out a 1-1 draw at De Kuip last Thursday, with Igor Paixao opening the scoring for the home side and Romelu Lukaku restoring the parity midway through the second half.

Both clubs have become very familiar with each other in the past couple of years, with this season being the third consecutive campaign in which they’ve squared off.

AS Roma beat Feyenoord in the UEFA Europa Conference League final in 2022 and also won their two previous two UEFA knockout ties having drawn the first leg.

AS Roma Betting Preview (+110 at Everygame)

The Giallorossi finished sixth in Serie A last season and there were certain expectations that they have to perform much better in 2023-24. However, legendary head coach Jose Mourinho was eventually sacked last month following a run of disappointing results throughout the season.

After two and a half years at the glorious Italian club, Jose Mourinho was dismissed after elimination from the Coppa Italia quarter-finals at the hands of arch rivals Lazio, with Roma also sitting ninth in the Serie A table.

Roma were also far from exceptional in the Europa League group stage, even though they won four of their six matches there. Yet, they finished second, two points behind Slavia Prague and had to resume their European campaign from the knockout round play-offs.

Now under the leadership of former captain Daniele De Rossi, The Giallorossi will look to build on their recent form, having lost just one from six matches under the new boss (winning four). Their strong work over the past weeks has allowed them to keep up the pace in the race for a top four finish, with an upcoming home match against Torino on Monday evening.

Daniele De Rossi's side will welcome Feyenoord on the back of a 3-0 win at Frosinone on Sunday evening. Thus, Roma are now sixth in the Serie A table, four points behind the likes of Atalanta and Bologna, who sit fourth and fifth, respectively, though Atalanta also have a game in hand.

Tammy Abraham is still recovering from the cruciate ligament injury he suffered last summer and remains a long-term absentee for AS Roma but other than that, De Rossi has a clean bill of health.

Mile Svilar should continue in goal as the Serb has been AS Roma's first-choice goalkeeper in European games.

Elsewhere, Chris Smalling made a long-awaited comeback as the experienced England defender remained an unused substitute in the 4-2 defeat to Inter Milan earlier this month and in the first leg against Feyenoord, but he had a cameo against Frosinone last time out.

Sardar Azmoun scored his second goal of the season and first one since early-November, when the Iranian forward, introduced as a second-half substitute, inspired Roma's late comeback win against Lecce.

Feyenoord Betting Preview (+245 at Everygame)

The reigning Eredivisie champions edged out a 1-0 victory over RKC Waalwijk on Sunday afternoon but their inconsistency earlier in the campaign means they still sit 10 points behind runaway leaders PSV Eindhoven after 22 games.

Arne Slot's side, however, arrived in Rome unbeaten in their last 11 games across all competitions (winning 8). Their streak includes a 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the KNVB Cup round of 16 last month as they remain engaged on multiple fronts.

Feyenoord finished third in Group E of the Champions League where they won two of their opening three games, including a 3-1 home win over Lazio, but then lost three in a row. Still, the Rotterdam outfit advanced to the Europa League knockout phase play-offs and they will be keen to finally outlast Roma.

Furthermore, in order to achieve a famous victory in the Eternal City, The Dutch giants will need to end a poor run of nine European away matches without a win (0-3-6), stretching back almost two years to a 3-1 win at Slavia Prague in the Conference League quarter-finals (April 2022).

That may seem a difficult task, but Feyenoord have incredibly scored in all but one of their last 27 away games in all competitions, although the only exception did come exactly at the Stadio Olimpico in November, when they fell to a 1-0 loss to Lazio.

Arne Slot could still make some changes to the starting XI he fielded in the first leg. Both Yankuba Minteh and Ayase Ueda are expected to make way for Quinten Timber, who missed the first leg, and Mexican forward Santiago Gimenez.

Goalkeeper Justin Bijlow and captain Gernot Trauner are both sidelined for Feyenoord.

Possible Starting Lineups of AS Roma and Feyenoord

AS Roma: Mile Svilar - Rick Karsdorp, Gianluca Mancini, Diego Llorente, Angelino - Bryan Cristante, Leandro Paredes, Lorenzo Pellegrini - Paulo Dybala, Romelu Lukaku, Stephan El Shaarawy. (4-3-3)

Feyenoord: Timon Wellenreuther - Bart Nieuwkoop, Thomas Beelen, Dávid Hancko, Quilindschy Hartman - Quinten Timber, Mats Wieffer, Ramiz Zerrouki - Calvin Stengs, Santiago Gimenez, Igor Paixao. (4-3-3)

Spooky Express Betting Prediction

AS Roma look revitalized under new manager Daniele De Rossi and given their strong home form as well as their head-to-head record against Feyenoord, we're backing the Giallorossi to win in regular time.

Spooky Express Free Play: AS Roma +110 at Everygame for 5/10 Units

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