AS Roma take on the visitors Lille in the round 2 match of UEFA Europa League group stage. The match will be played on Thursday, October 2nd at Stadio Olimpico (Rome).
Roma have not achieved major success for a very long time. It is enough to say that they still cannot return to the Champions League. Even Mourinho failed with that task, though he did manage to win another European trophy — the newly created Conference League. Last season, Ranieri came very close to reaching the goal but fell just one point short of Juventus in the race for fourth place — and that was after Claudio came out of retirement to fix the situation following the dismissals of De Rossi and Juric. Now the head coach is Gasperini, remembered for the progress he delivered at Atalanta. At his new post, he is still clearly shaping the team’s style, and there are setbacks such as the home defeat to Torino. But overall, they keep winning, often by the minimum scoreline of 1-0. In the previous European fixture against Nice, they managed to secure a 2-1 victory. Over the weekend against Verona, they looked more convincing with a 2-0 win, and it was even Dovbyk — thought to be out of favor — who opened the scoring. The defense has been solid so far, conceding only three goals in their last five matches, while their attack is slowly gaining rhythm. Fans believe Gasperini’s tactical discipline can finally bring stability and push Roma back into Europe’s elite.
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Lille are trying to reclaim their place. The Dogs were simply unlucky last season. They collected as many points as Nice and finished just one point behind Monaco — but ultimately ended up fifth, outside the Champions League zone. In the summer, their prolific striker David left as a free agent when his contract expired. On the other hand, Giroud arrived from MLS for his final career chapter, and he is already scoring goals. Thanks in part to the experienced finisher, Lille made a strong start, winning most of their Ligue 1 fixtures. However, in September they suffered a heavy 0-3 defeat to Lens. In the previous round against a potential rival, Lyon, they failed to respond to the only goal of the match and were left empty-handed again. Before that, they began their European campaign with a narrow but important 2-1 home victory over Brann. The inconsistency remains a concern, as their attack sometimes looks one-dimensional without David’s pace. Still, the addition of Giroud has given them leadership up front, and young talents like Zhegrova and Cabella provide creative sparks when needed.
In 2019, they played their only meeting, a friendly match. The Italians won 3-2. The Giallorossi seem to have found their form. We believe they can secure another victory.
Prediction for the match: AS Roma to win.
