Roma vs Austria Wien predictions, betting tips & match preview

Serie A side Roma are heavy favourites to record a victory over Austria Wien on Thursday night. Despite these two being level on points in their group, the Italians are being heavily backed to win this one. The Austrians have made a decent start, but it could get a lot better with a victory in this clash.

To take all three points here, Austria Wien would need to really shock Roma. They’ve built up an impressive home record, one which has filled their players with confidence. That self-belief will be sky high after their 3-1 win away at Napoli. Having moved up to second in Serie A last weekend, can the Austrians really burst Roma’s bubble?

Roma are unbeaten in 16 home league games, while they’ve won four in a row in all competitions. They crushed Astra 4-0 in their last home game in the Europa League. Austria Wien are the biggest threat to the Italian side, given that this group contains the likes of Viktoria Plzen and Astra. There isn’t much doubt that Roma will get through the knockout round, but they need to get results in these two clashes with the Austrian side to confirm top spot.

Austria Wien have been pretty entertaining so far domestically, scoring 1.91 goals per game. They’ve been far too open at the back, as they’ve let in 1.73 a match on average. It’s something they kept up on their last away trip in this competition, as they won 3-2 away to Astra. Expect the Austrians to really push forward, which will be helped by Roma’s current injury crisis.

The Italians are in trouble at the back. They’re without physio-room regular Thomas Vermaelen, while they’re missing four more defenders through injury, plus Emerson is out through suspension. Daniele Di Rossi misses out too, so their midfield lacks defensive bite. Roma have been left with just three fit defenders over the age of 21.

That means they’re set to continue their poor Europa League defensive record. They’ve conceded in nine of the last 10 matches they’ve played in this competition. They’ve let in a goal per game at home in all competitions so far, while they’ve conceded 1.25 per match in Serie A so far. Suddenly Luciano Spalletti’s team don’t seem that solid.

Given Roma’s defensive issues, we’re backing them to concede in a victory here. They have enough firepower to win even if they let in a goal, having scored 2.3 goals on average in their Serie A clashes so far. While the hosts are odds-on favourites, they’re 6/4 on the result and BTTS market, and that is our tip here.