Expect goals in Thursday's Europa League second leg at the Stadio della Roma.
Roma v Lyon – Thursday 20:05, BT Sport Europe
Roma ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 win at Palermo, but they have a two-goal deficit to make up at the Stadio Olimpico against Lyon on Thursday after losing the first leg in France 4-2. Lyon have been in imperious form, putting four past their opponents in five of their last six matches across all competitions, and with the Ligue 1 title firmly out of reach for them they will look for crucial away goals after conceding two at home in the first leg.
Rome has historically been a tough place for French teams to win. In their last five games there, French teams have lost two and drawn three, scoring only once in the process. While we think Lyon’s recent goalscoring makes a Roma clean sheet unlikely, as does the fact that they’ve conceded in each of their last three home games, their record of just one away win in their last five leads us to think that Lyon could add to the tally of French teams who have come away from Rome empty-handed. Roma have been involved in some high-scoring games in the Europa League recently: four of their last five at home have seen more than goals, with three of these having more than three, so we should see plenty of goalmouth action.
Roma start as favourites here, but their poor home form and the fact they’ve won only two of their last eight at home in this competition mean we’ll steer clear of the match outcome markets. Instead, we’ll back Over 3.5 Goals in a game between two teams frequently involved in high-scoring clashes.
