Roma vs Istanbul Basaksehir Predictions

Roma are back in the Europa League after back to back campaigns amongst Europe’s elite. The Italian giants have benefitted massively from their Champions League income in recent years, but they just weren’t good enough last term to return to Serie A’s top four. That has led to change at the top in the capital, while the hosts are looking to continue their rebuild with a run in the Europa League.

As Champions League semi-finalists in 2018, it’s not unthinkable that Roma could go all the way in UEFA’s second-tier competition. They head into this game with an unbeaten league start behind them, while even last term they were unlucky not to make the Champions League’s last eight earlier this year. There’s still plenty of talent within this Roma team, although they do look a little exposed at the back.

Istanbul Basaksehir are a side who have made remarkable progress domestically, but they just can’t make the next step in Europe. They were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Olympiakos this summer, while last season saw them eliminated in the preliminaries for the Europa League when they went down to Burnley. They’ve landed in the group stage this term, but can they really match Roma?

The visitors come here with 10 defeats in 20 European games. They have lost half of their Europa League matches so date, including two of three away trips in the group stage back in 2017. They have won just one of their last seven away trips in this competition. Given their poor run it’s hard to see them matching Roma.

The hosts are fresh from a 4-2 win over Sassuolo, having moved 4-0 in front in the first half. The Giallorossi have been too open so far, conceding six goals across three games in the league. With 9 of their last 12 games here seeing both teams score, we think there will be goals at the Olimpico this week. As a result, a home win and both teams to score is our tip.

We expect Roma to have too much for a side who just can’t get to grips with European football. The hosts have shown their incredible attacking potential in their opening games of the season, while they are worthy favourites against a Basaksehir side who have yet to really find their feet at this level. As a result, we are going with a 3-1 victory for the Giallorossi to kick off this group on the right note.