AS Roma vs Manchester United Preview

After an embarrassing second-half capitulation at Old Trafford last week, AS Roma welcome Manchester United to the Stadio Olimpico for the second leg of their Europa League tie, looking to save some face.

The Romans Yellow and Reds were effectively beaten 6-2 in England despite holding a 2-1 advantage at half time to leave their Europa League campaign virtually over and the departure of Paulo Fonseca by the end of the season.

The hosts will now welcome their visitors to Rome looking to put up a proper performance and perhaps make the aggregate scoreline more respectable.

However, their form heading into this tie doesn’t inspire much confidence for Roma faithfuls who have seen their team fail to win a game in six tries. The hosts are on a three-game-losing run heading into this tie and have lost four of their last six.

At home however, they have a more respectable record, winning two and drawing two of their last five.

However, they are required to score four goals without reply to progress to the next round, a feat they have not achieved in a very long time.

A brilliant second-half performance in the first leg ensures that United have little work to do in Rome. They know that they are in the driving seat in this tie, but will be looking to add further gloss to the scoreline as they have had almost a week’s rest due to the cancellation of their weekend match against Liverpool.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are unbeaten in seven games, winning six in that period. Outside of Old Trafford, they have lost once in 18 games and boast a good defencive record on their road travels.

With Roma in crisis and the Red Devils’ midfield and attack in sync with each other, it could be a matter of how many more goals for the 2017 Europa League winners.