Tottenham host AS Roma in the Europa League
Tottenham Hotspur host AS Roma on matchday five of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, November 28th. It will be the final time European action will be held at the home of the Lilywhites this year and they will be hoping to cap it off with a vital win that will take them another step closer to securing passage into the next round of the competition.
Spurs suffered the first defeat of their campaign in the tournament on matchday four against Galatasaray by a 3-2 margin, though their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage are very much safe. After a thumping win over Manchester City, Ange Postecoglou’s side will undoubtedly be the favourite to beat Roma, who are on their third coach of the season already.
Team News
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur have a number of absentees for the game. Will Lankshear was shown the red card last time out and is suspended for the game, while the likes of Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are all ruled out. Mikey Moore is also a doubt as he is recovering from an illness.
Spurs’ top goal-scorer in the competition is Dominic Solanke and he will be available for the game right from the word go. He scored last time in the Europa League in Istanbul after coming off the bench. Son Heung-min is unlikely to start, however, as Ange Postecoglou is managing his recovery very carefully after a muscular injury earlier in the season.
PREDICTED TOTTENHAM XI (4-3-3): Forster; Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie; Bissouma, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Werner
AS Roma
AS Roma come into matchday five of the Europa League in 20th place and with just one win in their first four matches of the tournament, a defeat against Spurs would make their position quite precarious in the standings. If they are to win, they will need to do so without Alexis Saelemaekers, Eldor Shomurodov and Mario Hermoso, who are all injured and likely to miss the game.
Artem Dovbyk is the Giallorossi’s top scorer in the Europa League with two goals to his name and will be a player Tottenham will have to stay on top of. Lorenzo Pellegrini will also be a threat as their second striker while a player of Stephan El Sharaawy’s qualities can never be written off either, and could be a player who can threaten Spurs.
PREDICTED AS ROMA XI (4-4-1-1): Svilar; Celik, Mancini, N’Dicka, Angelino; El Sharaawy, Kone, Cristante, Pisilli; Pellegrini; Dovbyk
Match-deciding duel
Brennan Johnson vs Angelino
Brennan Johnson is likely to be Tottenham Hotspur’s creative outlet down the right flank and will also be a goal threat to AS Roma given his form in the last few weeks. The Welshman will be up against former Manchester City left back Angelino, who is one of the Italian side’s better players and can cause a chaos if he raids forward as well.
Angelino will have to be taken care of by Johnson when Tottenham are without the ball, while his duel against the Spaniard could influence the result of the match. It could be an enticing tussle to keep tabs on.
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Prediction
Tottenham 3-0 AS Roma
Tottenham will have their tails up after beating Manchester City at the weekend and will hope to follow it up with another great result in the Europa League. AS Roma have done little good this season and therefore, Spurs could grab a comfortable win.
