Europa League: New Rivals Claw Their Way to Group G Dominance

Slavia Praha vs AS Roma

With the group stages of the Europa League starting to shape up, teams are slowly cementing their spot in the group standings. Group G, the group with the most firepower in the tournament, headlines Roma and Slavia Praha as the top teams to come out as the group leaders.

Roma aim to secure their ticket to the next round of the tournament, while Slavia Praha fight their way to make Europa League 2023 news and overtake I Giallorossi in the top spot of Group H, and avenge their humbling 2-0 loss last month.

Talking Points

Lukaku stays hot, carries Roma past Lecce

Roma have been on a surge in Serie A as they have won four of their last five matches, which included multiple clean-sheet victories. José Mourinho’s squad is also excelling in the Europa League, where they top Group G by winning all three of their first three matches and conceding just one goal in the process.

The main catalyst for Roma’s recent success is Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku. The 30-year-old veteran now has six Serie A goals and three Europa league goals this season, and it seems like no one has figured out how to slow him down.

Roma’s only loss for the past month across all competitions came in the hands of Inter, where Simone Inzaghi’s team was able to stop Roma’s charge and hold them to a scoreless 1-0 defeat.

But thanks to Romelu Lukaku, Roma are quick to bounce back and are fired up after their thrilling 2-1 victory over Lecce. Lukaku saved Mourinho from back-to-back losses when he struck the winning goal during the dying moments of the match.

It was a match that had Roma’s fingerprints all over it. They dominated both passing and possession, but an efficient Lecce squad persistently pressured Roma’s defence and had multiple convincing attacks. Pontus Almqvist scored the opening goal at the 72’ minute mark, giving Lecce the late lead. But Roma didn’t lose their step as they kept up the pace.

Sardar Azmoun burst a powerful header in injury time to equalise the score line at 1-1. At this point, most were expecting the match to end in a draw, keeping Roma winless in their last two games, or so we thought. Just before the referees were about to blow the final whistle, an inspired Roma offence charged to Lecce’s goal one last time. Paulo Dybala sliced the ball past multiple Lecce defenders and found Lukaku in an opportune spot. The Belgian struck a stoppage-time goal to give Roma the win in the most dramatic fashion.

Slavia Praha get another crack at it

Slávisté are, as usual, one of the top teams in the Czech First League. They are currently second in the league table, just two points behind Sparta Prague. But what most fans would commend them on is how they fare against Europe’s best in the Europa League.

It’s looking like Salvia Praha and Roma are the top teams that will be coming out of Group G of the Europa League, but only one team advances to the next round. Jindřich Trpišovský’s and the rest of the squad are more than capable of making a deep run in their Europa League campaign, but they have a big hurdle with Roma in the same group as them.

Their rivalry ignited last month when they first saw each other on the pitch. Slavia Praha were poised to put up a competitive bout against Roma, as they were the best offence in the Europa League at the time. But to everyone’s disbelief, I Giallorossi held the visiting Czech team to a scoreless match that ended with a 2-0 score line.

Jindřich Trpišovský needs to overcome Mourinho’s squad in order to keep their strong European campaign rolling, and that’s exactly what they intend to do later this week. If they are able to get their revenge against Roma, the two teams will be tied for first place in Group G and will be separated just by goal difference. It would be interesting to see how Slávisté will fare against their new rivals at Eden Arena.

History

This will only be the second time these clubs meet since last month, when Roma came out as the victors in that one with a 2-0 clean sheet at Stadio Olimpico.

Roma historically struggles against Czech clubs, as they have never won an away match against a Czech side in Europe. Out of a total of three matches against Czech teams, Roma lost two, including a defeat against Slavia Praha in March 1996.

Meanwhile, Slavia Prague have been unstoppable at Eden Arena, having won seven of their last nine matches in Europe, ending their last three matches with clean sheets, and scoring 11 goals themselves. But it will be hard to faze I Giallorossi, as they have won all of their last five group stage matches in the Europa League.

Betting tip

There are a lot of things to consider when choosing lines for this match. Both teams look pretty evenly matched, and given certain aspects of their history, the SBOTOP Europa League betting odds for this bout justly reflect that. Roma are the slight favourites to win this one at 2.32, while Slávisté are right there with 2.74. It’s really a toss of the coin for these lines, and it might go down to preference and bias for one of these clubs.

Goals over 2.25 at 1.85 should be a line punters should keep an eye on, as both teams have been showcasing their attacking prowess not just in their respective leagues but also in the Europa League. In three matches, both teams have scored eight goals each, more than any other top two teams in any group in the Europa League. Another line to consider is First Half O/U Over 1.00 at 2.07. As stated in the paragraph above, these teams are on fire offencively, and with the likes of Lukaku and Ogbu headlining the offence for these teams, one or two early goals is not that hard to imagine.

 

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