AS Roma vs Brighton & Hove Albion. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

AS Roma will host Brighton & Hove Albion FC in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 match at the Stadio Olimpico. The fixture will take place on Thursday, March 7, beginning at 23:15 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

AS Roma News & Current Form: 

Roma made it to the playoffs of the Europa League by finishing 2nd in the group stage in the G quartet. They lost the first line to SK Slavia Praha, which allowed them to go straight to the 1/8 finals, 2 points behind them. In total they managed to put 13 points in their piggy bank in 6 rounds, where they had 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, in these meetings  they managed to score 12 goals and conceded only 4 goals.

In the last match of the group stage, the Italians confidently defeated FC Sheriff Tiraspol (3:0) at home, where they had a huge advantage in all major game components. They could have scored more, but still 3 goals were enough to beat their opponents without any problems. The goals were scored by Lukaku, Andrea Belotti and Niccolò Pisilli.

And in the 1/16 finals of the UEL playoffs Romans met with Dutch Feyenoord, whom they had passed, though with great difficulty. In the first meeting of the two-match confrontation Romans ran away from defeat, losing until 67 minutes of the meeting. Lukaku’s goal brought the team back into the game, when it seemed that the hosts should have scored a second.

In the second match, the teams again parted ways in regulation time (1:1), where the Romans again had to respond to the goal by the Dutch team. The score was equalized by Lorenzo Pellegrini on 15 minutes of the match. In the extra time, the teams failed to distinguish themselves and they moved the game to a penalty shootout, where the Italians were more accurate, scoring 4 goals against two accurate shots from the opponent.

The replacement of Jose Mourinho with Daniele De Rossi has fully justified itself. The new head coach of Roma turned out to be a promising specialist who has interesting tactical developments. Of course, the first thing the mentor did was to remove the psychological burden from the team, which the Portuguese left behind, and things went noticeably better.

De Rossi evaluated the squad he inherited from Mourinho and decided that sitting back in defense is a bad idea, as the coach has such masters as Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku at his disposal. The Wolves have much more time to spend in attack, possess the ball and dominate their opponents.

The results of the new coach’s reforms have had an impact on the Romans’ performance. The team has significantly improved in Serie A and is already fifth in the standings. Up to fourth place, which is Bologna FC, the distance is only four points, so it is likely that Roma next season in the UEFA Champions League.

The management of the club is absolutely delighted with De Rossi’s work. At first he was considered a temporary replacement until the end of the season, but now sources say that the board is considering a new contract with the coach with a significant increase in salary.

Top scorer of AS Roma – Paulo Dybala with 12 goals to his name

In the last 9 rounds of the championship the Capital club won 6 times and lost only once – to FC Inter Milan (4:2). At the same time, the Romans scored two goals to the Nerazzurri, although before that for the whole season they conceded only 10 times. The Giallorossi have won six of their remaining eight games, such as defeating Frosinone Calcio  (3:0), Torino FC (3:2) and AC Monza (1:4) last Sunday. 

What makes the fans even happier is the high performance of the capital team: under De Rossi’s guidance, the hosts score an average of 2.5 goals per game. Paulo Dybala (12+7) is the most productive in the Roman attack, though the Argentine scored half of his goals from the penalty spot.

But Romelu Lukaku, the Giallorossi’s second striker, scored all ten of his goals during the game. De Rossi has no losses – on the contrary, Tammy Abraham, who has been nursing a torn anterior cruciate ligament since last summer, will finally return to training on March 10.

Brighton & Hove Albion News & Current Form: 

In the group stage of the Europa League, the English side snatched the top spot in their quartet in the last round in the decisive match against Olympique de Marseille, which they won with a score of 1:0. The winning goal was scored by Joao Pedro, who at the very end of the match was able to successfully realize his goal. In general, the English then looked stronger and created more danger at the gates of the opponent, for which they were rewarded.

In total, Brighton in 6 rounds of the group stage in their piggy bank managed to put 13 points and 2 points ahead of the second Marseille. And they defeated the formidable AFC Ajax twice with the same score (2:0). For all matches of the group, the English managed to distinguish themselves 10 times, and they conceded 5 goals. Thanks to the first place in the group, the English club went directly to the 1/8 finals and are now there to fight with one of the main contenders for this trophy – Italian Roma.

In the English Premier League team of De Zerbi in the current season is not shining and is mid-table, occupying the 9th position in the table. In 27 rounds of the championship the club managed to put in its piggy bank 39 points, having won only 10 victories. The team from Brighton has the most draw results among all the clubs of the top division (9). 

Joao Pedro is responsible for 8 goals scored by Brighton & Hove Albion FC

From the nearest neighbor on the top of the table – eighth Newcastle United FC, the gap is only 1 point. But it is far from the coveted European Cup top five, 11 points away, while fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur FC still have 1 game in hand.

The Seagulls have a pretty decent performance with 49 goals scored – this is the 7th result in the league, and the best goal scorer of the team Brazilian João Pedro has 8 goals. And they conceded 44 goals and this is only the 11th indicator in the championship.

In the last played 27th round of the national championship Albion unexpectedly lost big away to Fulham FC, which is below them in the table, with a score (0:3). At the same time, not to say that the hosts in this meeting were a head above the game, they just scored all their goal chances, and Brighton failed the game in defense and in attack could not bring anything to a logical conclusion.

It is very likely that the Blue and Whites will soon have to worry about finding a new head coach. There is too much talk that the current Seagulls coach Roberto De Zerbi will take charge of FC Barcelona or Liverpool FC in the summer. Pep Guardiola added oil in the fire , who in an interview advised the management of the Spanish club not to miss their chance.

De Zerbi himself is fully focused on working with the team and revealed in an interview that he wants to finish the season as best as possible with young players. The coach is subtly hinting that the team has serious squad problems. Indeed, he cannot count on injured leaders.

It is very likely that this is the reason for the team’s recent slump in results, as Brighton’s scheme remains structurally unchanged. The pressing is considered one of the best in the EPL, but there are problems with creating and realizing dangerous chances. Also a lot of mistakes are made by the defense on the background of decreased conditioning of the leading players towards the end of the season.

Brighton will have to do without a number of players on Thursday, including Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma, who is not expected to play again this season due to injury.

AS Roma form guide: L-D-W-W-W-W

Brighton & Hove Albion form guide: W-L-W-D-L-L

AS Roma vs Brighton & Hove Albion Predicted XI:

AS Roma’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Smalling, Angelino; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy.

Brighton & Hove Albion’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Lamptey, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Gross, Baleba; Adingra, Enciso, Buonanotte; Welbeck.

Statistical preview of the match AS Roma vs Brighton & Hove Albion:

• Roma’s First XI average age is 29.1 years, Brighton’s First XI average age is 25.0 years.
• The total value of Roma’s squad is 33 mln euros, while the total of the English side comes up to 487 mln euros.
• François Letexier has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served 23 games this season, showing an average of 4 Yellow Cards and also whistles 22 fouls per game. 
• In nine of the last 12 matches involving the visitors, at least ten corner kicks were awarded. 
• In the Europa League, Roma have an average xG of 1.34, while Brighton create chances at 1.67 xG.
• On average, Roma possess the ball 55.21% of game time within Europa League matches, while Brighton have 57.5% of possession.
• Roma are unbeaten in their last 5 matches in all competitions
• Brighton have won only 2 of the last 7 meetings in all competitions and conceded at least one goal in the last 8 matches in all competitions.
• Roma and Brighton have never played a head-to-head match in their history.
• Brighton play in the European Cup playoffs for the first time in its history.

What has been said before the match:

Daniele De Rossi, recently appointed coach of  the Wolves, spoke ahead of the Europa League clash with Brighton:

“Roberto has absolutely brilliant footballing ideas. He’s a different type of coach with an innovative streak. It’s not just him. Brighton have some top players. They’ve made some really good signings and I’m expecting a tough game.”

“The first thing we need to know is that sometimes Brighton force the opposition to play in their own half for three or four minutes, including the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC. Those are the games that we have done our research on. Sometimes they take a beating as well, as we’ve seen against Luton Town FC, Aston Villa FC and Fulham.

“There will be many games within this game. We’ll need to play them all and win them, both when we are in possession, which I hope will be for as long as possible, as well as when we’re up against a team that knows how to keep the ball well. They’ve been doing that for the last 18 months and they do so on a weekly basis against very strong opposition.

“We take to the pitch to win and to get through to the next round. We may have a different outlook on fellow Italian teams playing in Europe, given that their success could have a special element to it as it could get Italy closer to having fifth in the league as a Champions League place. We would still then need to get up to fifth or fourth.

“The only thing we can try to do is win games. It doesn’t change anything for us. If another Italian is successful in Europe, besides the rivalry between fan bases, it could be something that brings us an advantage in the future.”

AS Roma vs Brighton & Hove Albion Prediction:

Roma saw a turnaround with the arrival of a new coach, Daniele De Rossi took the psychological burdens off the team and the Wolves began to find themselves playing more daring and attacking football. Under the leadership of the legend of the Roman team, they won 7 matches in all tournaments out of 9, the only defeat was against the leading Inter in the championship, but even then they showed a good performance. In this stretch, the Romans have scored an average of 2.4 goals per match, while conceding 1.2. Using this reset, Tammy Abraham and his teammates have been able to get up to cruising speed and are now firmly closing in on the top four (only 4 points behind fourth-placed Bologna). The home-field advantage is particularly beneficial for the Yellow and Reds: in 19 matches at the Stadio Olimpico in all tournaments, they have lost only twice, to Serie A frontrunners Milan and Inter. On top of that, the hosts have much more experience in European competitions (especially in the last 2 years), while their opponents participate in the Europa League for the first time in their history. 

Brighton approaches the match in rather unsteady conditions: at the moment the team is suffering from a game crisis, only 2 wins in the last eight matches, the GD in the last three matches is 1:5. After the crushing defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday (0:3), Lewis Dunk and co. will certainly be under the weather. In general, the Seagulls perform very lackluster on the road: in 21 matches in all tournaments, the Seagulls have lost 9 times, with 4 draws and 8 wins. The defense in away matches is bursting under pressure and makes a lot of mistakes: on average in the EPL Brighton concede 2 goals per match, a rate identical to outsiders like Sheffield United. Now in the English Premier League White and Blue are ninth, the team is not in danger of relegation, but it will be very difficult to get to the European Cups zone. At the same time in the Europa League campaign 23/24 Brighton performs quite well: four wins, one draw and one defeat, in a difficult group with Marseille, Ajax and AEK brought Roberto De Zerbi’s team deserved first place. For the English, this tournament offers a chance to save the season, and the motivation to win the trophy will be sky-high. 

The Seagulls will come to Italy in a fighting mood, but it is unlikely that they will be able to break down a resurgent Roma backed by their fans. We expect attacking and flamboyant football and a victory for the Romans. 

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: AS Roma will win and the match total will be over 1.5 – Yes.