Roma v Bayer Leverkusen

Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen Preview

Roma and Bayer Leverkusen will prepare to do battle in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday night with the 1st leg being played in Italy at the Stadio Olimpico as Roma get first bite of the cherry in terms of home advantage on the back of a 2-2 draw away from home at Napoli in Serie A on the weekend, while Bayer Leverkusen were also involved in a 2-2 draw at home against Stuttgart in the German Bundesliga.

Following that draw away from home at Napoli, Roma remain in fifth place and four points adrift of fourth placed Bologna in the domestic top flight table but the hosts' attentions will now turn to the matter of this 1st leg tie against Bayer Leverkusen as Daniele De Rossi's side look to gain an advantage to take into next week's return leg.

Results overall have been pretty promising from Roma's perspective as the hosts have been handed just two defeats out of their last 16 matches in all competitions which came in the form of losses to Brighton and Bologna but Roma have also collected 10 wins in the process as well.

Within these 10 wins, Roma have registered victories in the Europa League over the likes of Feyenoord, Brighton and impressive home and away wins against fellow Italian counterparts, AC Milan.

Bayer Leverkusen maintained their unbeaten campaign in the Bundesliga on the weekend as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Stuttgart but the visitors possess a comfortable looking 12-point cushion at the top of the domestic top flight table over second placed Bayern Munich with just three games remaining of the season, thus confirming Leverkusen's league title crown.

The Germans will now turn their attentions to this upcoming semi-final 1st leg against Roma on Thursday night no doubt looking to firstly avoid defeat but also keen to take a lead of some sort into next week's 2nd leg in Germany.

Having won 25 of their 31 league matches to date in the German top flight along with previous wins in the Europa League against the likes of Azerbaijan outfit Qarabag and Premier League side West Ham, Xabi Alonso's side will be confident about their chances ahead of Thursday night's clash at Stadio Olimpico.

In addition, Bayer Leverkusen have put together an impressive looking 23-game unbeaten sequence on their travels in all competitions and this sort of form could disrupt Roma's plans in this 1st leg encounter.

Roma v Bayer Leverkusen Verdict

As this competition reaches the ‘pointy end' of proceedings we can expect tighter battles and thus the goals markets look inviting here as six of Roma's and Bayer Leverkusen's last ten home and away games overall have produced goals for both sides.

Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS Yes @ 1.80

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 3.60

Correct Score: 1-1 @ 7.00