Roma vs Vitesse

Roma welcome visitors from The Netherlands for this UEFA Conference League 1/8-finals second leg at Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Both teams have a genuine chance of qualifying as Jose Mourinho’s team grabbed a narrow 0-1 win in the first leg. However, I see the visitors having a very difficult task to avoid a defeat here – let alone win and qualify.. The first match was perhaps more balanced than the betting market expected – Roma were around 53% favorites to win. However, I will not be fooled by this at all.. The hosts over-performed but still failed to score.. Another above their normal performance is not probable. Indeed, it will be a lot more difficult in Rome in front of enthusiastic Roma fans! Roma surely have potential for better, especially offensively. Vitesse will have to take risks here as they need to win - preferably by more than one goal’s difference. I expect Rome getting too many chances for counter-attacks – especially in the later stages of the match if the score is level.. I do expect Rome to control the ball for the most of the match though.. The 1-0 on aggregate is of course not safe, and Roma can not rotate their squad for this match or take it lightly! I expect them to put heavy pressure on the visitors’ defense right from the start. Vitesse rarely play against team’s of Roma’s caliber - they lack experience at this level. Let’s hope Rome will score a quick goal..

Vitesse currently occupy 6th position in The Netherlands Eredivisie with 41 points and a bad 32:38 goal difference. This league is overall far from the level of Italian Serie A. Ajax and PSV of course are good teams by European standards but behind them the level drops a lot. Moreover, Vitesse are in pretty lame form at the moment having won just one of their latest 5 matches in this league. On the 4th of this month they probably would have lost at home against a weak team Sparta Rotterdam had the match been finished. It was abandoned late in the second half because of spectators’ riots. Weird to say the least.. The score was 0-1. Roma are in the 6th place in Serie A but have been unlucky in terms of expected points and would have deserved 4 more points than they actually have in the bank. They will probably topple Lazio and finish in the 5th place. Let's remember Roma have decent chance of winning The Conference League and earning a ticket to the Europa League group stage next season so they must be motivated! They are in fine form and have lost just one of their latest 10 matches. It was a 0-2 defeat against a top-team Inter. They are a much bigger club than the visitors by players’ total market value and I trust them to win here!