Roma vs Real Sociedad prediction, odds, best bets, TV channel, live stream for Europa League first leg

Jose Mourinho, who has already won a Europa League title in his career, continues to lead Roma into European competition when they host Spanish club Real Sociedad in the first leg of their round of 16 tie.

“The Special One” won this competition back in 2017 with Manchester United and last season won the Europa Conference League championship with the Italian club. Roma are in a fierce battle for the last few Champions League spots in Serie A and Mourinho will know that winning that competition would also be enough to secure a spot in Europe’s top flight next season secure competition.

He struggled to find consistency domestically but Roma bounced back from a disappointing loss to Cremonese by beating Juventus last time out. They’ve been a lot better defensively lately and have only conceded more than one goal in their last seven games, in the 2-1 defeat by Cremonese.

La Real are also fourth in the domestic league table, like Roma, but their recent form has waned significantly as they have faded out in their last two games despite two relegation contenders in Valencia and Cadiz.

Facts about the game between AS Roma and Real Sociedad

• Date: Thursday, March 9th
• kick-off time: 12:45 p.m. ET / 5:45 p.m. GMT / 4:45 a.m. AEDT (Fri, March 10)
• Location: Stadio Olimpico (Rome, Italy)
• Officially: Sandro Scharer (SWI)
• Last meeting: NONE (First meeting)

AS Roma vs Real Sociedad prediction, odds

• Moneyline Lean: AS Roma (+125)
• Outcome Prediction: AS Roma 1-0 Real Sociedad

Neither team was good at creating chances and they were even worse in front of goal. Roma are by far the worst finishing team in Serie A mile with her -12.28 xG differential, with Tammy Abraham particularly plagued by rating issues. Real Sociedad’s -5.59 mark, meanwhile, fits right into a La Liga table riddled with finishing problems, highlighted by the top scoring threat in Alexander Sorloth, who comes off the bench for some reason.

Add to that Roma are the best defensive team in xA’s Serie A and Real Sociedad are the fourth best defensive team in La Liga and it’s no wonder the odds are heavily skewed towards a lack of goals.

AS Roma vs Real Sociedad: Best bet

• Choose: 2H draw and less than 1.5 goals in total
• Opportunities: +195 (BetMGM)

While this game should be a low-scoring affair between two defensive teams, the underside represents no value so we need to find other options.

A little more points are usually scored in the second half of games than the first as teams open up in search of a result, but that’s not necessarily the case with Roma. Their expected goals in league play this season are only slightly higher in the second half and in their last seven games in all competitions they have gone four times without a goal in the last 45 minutes. There is great value here at near 2/1 odds with a defensive fight expected.

AS Roma vs Real Sociedad live stream, tv channel

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