⚽Roma vs Athletic Bilbao
🆕UEFA Europa League, KO: 20:00 Sep 26, 2024, Stadio Olimpico
🍁Roma go head-to-head against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday. Read our Predictions and Betting Tips with Match Preview, Head-to-head stats (h2h) and Team Form Analysis.
Our prediction for this Europa League match:
Buoyed by a splendid 3-0 win over Udinese, AS Roma will look to give fans yet another reason to celebrate when they take on Athletic Club in the Europa League round 1. The Romans have regained a much-needed confidence and, as a result, the odds for home win have been dropping. Summer signing Artem Dovbyk is widely expected to lead the line for the hosts, while both Alexis Saelemaekers and Enzo Le Fee are out of contention with injuries.
The Lions, on the other hand, are on a three-game winning run in the Spanish top flight. However, home win should be considered as key Athletic player Nico Williams has joined the likes of Yuri Berchiche, Yeray Alvarez, and goalkeeper Unai Simon in the recovery room. With Nico Williams sidelined, keep an eye on his brother Inaki Williams, who is expected to retain his spot on the right wing.
How the bookies view it: Roma edge the odds
Roma’s win at the weekend has seemingly convinced the bookies as they have been priced as the favourites for Thursday’s clash with Athletic Bilbao. 777PUB have priced a home win at 21/20 while a win for the visitors has been priced at 13/5. The draw, which wouldn’t be a bad result for either team, has been priced at 12/5 by JILIMACAO.
Recent head-to-head: A first competitive meeting
This will be the first time that Roma and Athletic Bilbao have met in a competitive fixture. However, they have met once before in a friendly match back in the summer of 2019. On that occasion, the two teams played out a 2-2 draw with Lorenzo Pellegrini scoring a penalty in stoppage time to equalise for Roma.
Roma vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction
Roma host Athletic Bilbao in one of the most interesting clashes of the opening day in the UEFA Europa League league phase.
Both outfits will come into the fixture on a high following their respective impressive display at the weekend.
Ivan Juric made a marvellous debut on Roma’s bench on Sunday, taking the new team to a 3-0 drubbing of Serie A shocking leaders Udinese at Stadio Olimpico.
Roma have been struggling to perform at the beginning of the new season under Eusebio Di Francesco but they produced a completely different display in the first match with the new manager in charge.
On the other side, Athletic Bilbao moved up to third position in Spanish La Liga ladder after their third subsequent league win.
The Basques dispatched Celta Vigo 3-1 on Sunday afternoon to clinch their fourth win of the season in seventh round.
Both Roma and Athletic Bilbao looked impressive offensively in their respective domestic league matches at the weekend.
Bilbao have been especially dominant attackingly in recent weeks. They notched eight goals in the previous three La Liga affairs.
The lone previous head-to-head meeting between thee counterparts ended in a 2-2 stalemate in a pre-season exhibition in 2019.
We have plenty of reasons to expect a similar outcome this time around based on the two teams’ recent performances.
The main pick is Both Teams To Score at the 1.90 odds. The value is with the in-form Basques not to lose at the 1.80 odds.
Players to watch: A striker finding his feet
Artem Dovbyk is a name familiar to Athletic Bilbao after the Ukrainian starred for Girona in La Liga last season. Dobyk scored 32 goals in all competitions for Girona last season, with 24 of them coming in the league to earn him the Golden Boot award.
His stay in Spain proved to only be a short one, though, as he departed from Roma this summer in a deal worth more than £30m. Up until the last week, the 27-year-old had been slow to adjust to life in the Italian capital but he finally got his first goal for the club in a draw against Genoa.
Dovbyk followed that goal up with another strike against Udinese this weekend so like all good strikers, he will now be itching for the next game to come around. Athletic Bilbao managed to keep him out last season in La Liga, can they do the same on Thursday?
Predicted line-ups
Roma could be without their captain, Lorenzo Pellegrini, on Thursday with the midfielder a doubt with an unspecified injury. Alexis Saelemaekers and Enzo le Fee are also out for the hosts. Athletic Bilbao are without star man, Nico Williams, and first-choice goalkeeper, Unai Simon.
Roma: Ryan – Mancini, Hermoso, Ndicka – Celik, Kone, Cristante, El Shaarawy – Soule, Dovbyk, Baldanzi
Athletic Bilbao: Agirrezabala – Gorosabel, Paredes, Vivian, Yuri – Ruiz de Galarreta, Vesga – Williams, Sancet, Berenguer – Guruzeta
