Ahead of Roma’s Europa League match with Real Sociedad, @asromacesky shared his thoughts on what to expect for Jose Mourinho’s men.
Roma host Real Sociedad in the knockout stages of the Europa League, with the Italian side facing a Sociedad team that has climbed to 4th place in La Liga on the back of a successful domestic campaign. One thing that might side in the favour of Roma is that in the last three league games, Sociedad have only managed to secure two points, losing once and drawing the other two while only scoring one goal. Their position heading into this match is not the best, but they’re also nestled firmly in the race for the top four, sandwiched between Betis and Atletico Madrid. Sociedad boast a largely Spanish contingent in their ranks, however the team’s current top scorer is Norwegian striker Alexander Sorloth with 9 league goals.
Heading into this match, Roma managed managed a slender home victory against Juventus at the Olimpico, with Gianluca Mancini’s goal being the difference in a cagey match. That match only further highlighted Jose Mourinho’s ability to prepare his teams for the tougher matches, and he will have them well prepped for tonight’s encounter.
The Giallorossi are strong at home this season, winning 7 of their last 8 in all competitions, turning around their first leg defeat against Salzburg in the Europa League by winning the second leg 2-0 and advancing to the round of 16. Roma’s one difficulty can be their inability to manage second half performances, sometimes struggling to close down the opponents and failing to create telling pressure.
There are reports from Italy that Tammy Abraham and Stephan El Shaarawy will start with the big surprise being Diego Llorente who should be in the team from the first minute.
