Manchester United welcome AS Roma to Old Trafford in the first leg of their semi-final in 2020-21 UEFA Europa League.
Man Utd are looking to book their second-ever Europa League final appearance, whereas Roma are eying up their first final in Europe’s second tier-competition since finishing runners-up in 1990-91 UEFA Cup.
Team News
Anthony Martial and Phil Jones remain absent for Manchester United with knee injuries, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have no fresh injury concerns to report.
Roma have no fresh injury concerns as Nicolò Zaniolo (knee), Riccardo Calafiori (muscle) and Pedro Rodriguez (hamstring) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- This is Manchester United’s first European meeting against Roma outside of the Champions League, with the Red Devils unbeaten in five of six previous clashes (W4, D1, L1).
- Roma are winless in three previous trips to Old Trafford, in which they have conceded nine goals and scored just once.
- Three of Utd’s 10 Europa League goals since joining the competition at Last 32 stage have come before half time.
- Five of Borja Mayoral’s seven Europa League goals for Roma this season have come after half time.
- Roma have won their only previous away trip under the whistle of Carlos del Cerro Grande this season, defeating Young Boys 2-1 in October.
Prediction
Man Utd simply need a sharper performance than they produced on Sunday at Leeds with a polished end product, because they were simply lacklustre in terms of their shot making despite great creative build-up play and Roma would certainly punish a repeat display.
Paulo Fonseca’s Serie A team however have a poor away record in this fixture at Old Trafford with nine conceded goals, yet enter this match in inconsistent form despite scoring in their last seven matches across all competitions.
I therefore am expecting a good contest between these two teams given their talent but if United can sort out their finishing quality, they should have enough to get a routine win.
Prediction: Manchester United 2-0 AS Roma
Result: Manchester United 6-2 AS Roma