An exciting encounter is expected as RB Salzburg and Roma square off in their Europa League knockout playoff first leg. The Italian side have a manager experienced in navigating fixtures like this and can hold out for something to take back to Rome.
RB Salzburg dropped to the Europa League after finishing third in the group stage of the Champions League following a run of one win in six group stage matches.
Mixing it with the elite clubs has always been a problem for RB Salzburg and they will be hoping for something different this time around. They head into Thursday’s clash off the back of a 4-0 home victory over Austria Lustenau, a result that ended a run of two matches without a win.
RB Salzburg will be banking on a solid home record having suffered just one 90 minute defeat in their last 10 matches across all competitions. However, Matthias Jaissle’s men remain shaky defensively, keeping just one clean sheet in the last six matches across all competitions.
Roma progressed to the Europa League knockout playoffs after finishing second during the group stage. They were inconsistent during the early stages but eventually found their rhythm and finished with back-to-back wins at HJK Helsinki and Ludogorets.
Having won the Conference League last season, Roma know how to navigate their way around this stage of European competition, particularly under manager Jose Mourinho. They travel to Salzburg off the back of a 1-1 draw with Lecce in Serie A last Saturday.
Roma have lost just once in their last 12 away matches, although draws have been the order of the day on their recent travels. They have been held four times in their last six away matches across all competitions.
How the bookies view it
The bookies appear to be split on this one with a win for RB Salzburg priced at 9/4 by William Hill while SBK is offering odds of 48/29 for a Roma victory. A draw is set at odds of 23/10 by bet365.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between RB Salzburg and Roma.
Players to watch
Noah Okafor was a shining light in Salzburg’s disappointing Champions League campaign, scoring three goals in six group stage matches. The forward continues to impress for the Austrian giants and is priced at 3/1 by Paddy Power to find the net on Sunday.
Paulo Dybala has impressed for Roma in recent weeks, scoring four goals in his last seven matches across all competitions. He was also on target at Lecce last Saturday and could be worth keeping an eye on to score anytime at 5/2 with Unibet.
Anything else catch the eye?
Salzburg and Roma are not particularly convincing at the back and with both teams able to hold their own going forward, they could be backed to score at 4/5 with bet365. There were over 3.5 goals in Roma’s previous Europa League fixture and a repeat is priced at 29/10 with BetVictor while over 2.5 goals is valued at evens by William Hill.
Salzburg often produce more goals after the break, so the second half could be tipped as the highest scoring half at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
This UEFA Europa League match between RB Salzburg and AS Roma will be played on Feb 16, 2023 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best RB Salzburg vs AS Roma prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
