SM
England vs. Ireland: 4 hrs 23 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
LL
Conference League | Semi-Finals | 1st Leg
Apr 28, 2022 at 8pm UK
King Power Stadium
RL

Leicester
1 - 1
Roma

Mancini (67' og.)
Dewsbury-Hall (26'), Vardy (59')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Pellegrini (15')
Abraham (8'), Zaniolo (63')

Preview: Leicester City vs. Roma - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Leicester City vs. Roma - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa Conference League clash between Leicester City and Roma, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

Leicester City and Roma will begin their fight for a place in the Europa Conference League final on Thursday, with the first leg taking place at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes overturned a late deficit to get past PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals, while a rampant second-leg display saw the Italian side dump out Bodo/Glimt.


Match preview

In what has been a mixed domestic season for Leicester City in the Premier League, with the Foxes failing to keep pace in the fight for continental qualification, a European run has been somewhat of a shining light.

After dropping out of their Europa League group in third place, they entered Europe's third competition in the playoff round, and they thrashed Randers 7-2 over two legs before seeing off French outfit Rennes, eventually triumphing with a 3-2 aggregate win thanks to a 2-0 victory on home turf.

That booked a semi-final tie with Dutch high-fliers PSV Eindhoven, and, after a goalless first leg, Brendan Rodgers's side fell behind in the Netherlands and trailed by one goal with 15 minutes to go.

James Maddison then levelled the scoring, before Ricardo Pereira popped up with an 88th-minute winner to see them come out on top away from home and progress to the final four.

With the Midlands outfit 10th in the English top flight, after consecutive draws with Newcastle United and Aston Villa, the Europa Conference League presents their only viable chance to play on the continent next season, and they will hope to gain a lead in the tie on Thursday with home advantage.

They welcome a Roma side who have been heavily fancied to go far in the Europa Conference League since the beginning of the group stage, as Jose Mourinho's side cruised through to the round of 16 with relative ease, other than a shock 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Bodo/Glimt.

The Italian outfit then battled hard to scrape past Vitesse, before meeting Bodo/Glimt in the quarter-finals, and they again fell behind against the Norwegian side, heading into the second leg 2-1 down.

Mourinho's men were able to overturn the deficit on that occasion, though, picking up a dominant 4-0 victory on the day thanks to a Nicolo Zaniolo hat-trick after Tammy Abraham's opener.

That win saw the Giallorossi book their spot in the semi-finals, and they head into Thursday's first leg aiming to bounce back from a 3-1 league defeat to Inter Milan at the weekend, leaving them eight points outside of the top four in Serie A.

With the Conference League also being their only chance of silverware this season, Roma will aim to put themselves in a strong position before welcoming the Foxes to the Italian capital next week.

Leicester City Europa Conference League form:
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • W

Leicester City form (all competitions):
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • D

Roma Europa Conference League form:
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • L
  • W

Roma form (all competitions):
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • L

Team News

Leicester City are set to remain without midfielder Wilfred Ndidi and defender Ryan Bertrand, while Jonny Evans and Boubakary Soumare are also not expected to feature.

Given the absences in midfield, Rodgers could deploy the trio of James Maddison, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Youri Tielemans, with Wesley Fofana and Caglar Soyuncu partnering up at the heart of the defence.

Jamie Vardy is fit to feature after several injury issues throughout the season, while Patson Daka is also vying for a place in the starting XI, having hit six goals across Europa League and Europa Conference League action this season.

Roma will likely remain without attacker Nicolo Zaniolo, who fired them to the semi-finals with a hat-trick against Bodo/Glimt, after he missed the Inter Milan game through injury, while Bryan Cristante is sidelined and Leonardo Spinazzola is not expected to be thrown in from the start after his injury layoff since Euro 2020.

Tammy Abraham will lead their line, having hit 24 goals in 48 appearances this season since a summer switch from Chelsea, including eight goals in 10 Conference League games.

Mourinho should stick with his preferred back three system, with Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling and Roger Ibanez bringing stability.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Pereira, Soyuncu, Fofana, Castagne; Dewsbury-Hall, Tielemans; Barnes, Maddison, Lookman; Daka

Roma possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Oliveira, Veretout, Vina; Mkhitaryan, Pellegrini; Abraham


We say: Leicester City 2-1 Roma

With two evenly-matched sides squaring off in a high-stakes first leg, we expect a tight affair with little to separate them.

Ultimately, we would not be surprised to see the Foxes take a slender lead with home advantage, leaving everything in the balance for next week's meeting in Rome.


body check tags ::

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


amp_article__484277 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2022-04-26 14:16:15:
html db last update - 2022-04-26 14:16:15 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!
Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Tottenham 'planning summer move for Youri Tielemans'
"A little bit of a shock" - England captain Kane opens up on surprising decision
Is Havertz still Arsenal's best option? Three "standout" striker targets assessed
Allardyce 'set to leave Leeds, Rodgers, Potter on shortlist'
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Amorim's challenge: Man United 'hugely concerned' by new signing's struggles

1

AC

"A little bit of a shock" - England captain Kane opens up on surprising decision

2

&L

Preview: Montenegro vs. Turkey - prediction, team news, lineups

NEW

3

PM

Amorim's "Jose Mourinho" part of fresh coaching set-up at Man United

4

A&

Sunday's Nations League predictions including England vs. Republic of Ireland

5

SN

From Ronaldo records to San Marino miracle: The story of 2024-25 Nations League

6

FR

Preview: Ghana vs. Niger - prediction, team news, lineups

7

PG

Tottenham 'make major decision' over Cardoso clause

8

T'

Preview: Croatia vs. Portugal - prediction, team news, lineups

9

PC

How could Carsley make unwanted history in final England game?

10

HC


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .