Roma can continue their great run of form when they host Villareal on Thursday.
Roma v Villarreal – Thursday 18:00, BT Sport Extra
A shock loss against Sampdoria in late January was the first time that Roma had lost in their last 11 matches, and they take on a stuttering Villarreal at home after thumping them 4-0 in their own back yard last week. Villarreal put an end to a run of three without a win with a narrow 1-0 victory over Sociedad at the weekend, but they’ll be hard pushed to overturn a four-goal deficit on the road given Roma’s recent proficiency.
Villarreal will not be helped by a weak recent record away in European competition. Since March 2015 they’ve gone W2-D6-L4 on the road in Europe, but wins over Dinamo Minsk and Sparta Prague in that period will have done little to prepare them for a team of Roma’s calibre, and they drew all three of their road group games in the Champions League earlier in the season. Roma have scored 10 in their last three at home across all competitions, so we’d expect them to put on a show for the home fans after essentially securing the tie in the first leg.
Villarreal were no match for Roma in the first leg, and we think that Rome’s excellent scoring record at home means they’ll outshine the Spaniards. They’ve won by at least two in four straight games across all competitions, so we’ll back them to cover a -1.0 Asian Handicap.
