On Thursday night, Bayer Leverkusen and Roma clash at the BayArena in the Europa League semi-final second leg.
Bayer has the advantage going into this encounterDie Werkself recorded a 2-0 win at Roma in the first leg, which makes Xabi Alonso’s team big favourites to make it through to the final of the competition.
Last time out, Bayer recorded a thumping 5-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. The victory means that Bayer are still unbeaten in their 49 games in all competitions.
When it comes to the Europa League, Leverkusen are unbeaten in their last 12 games in the competition, including winning three of their previous four outings.
The home team has been prolific of late in the competition, scoring at least two goals in six of their last seven matches.
Bayer are unbeaten in their previous eight home games in the Europa League, having recorded six straight victories.
Roma are finding wins hard to come byUnfortunately for the visitors, they hit an underwhelming run of form at the wrong time. A 1-1 home draw against Juventus last time out means that Daniele De Rossi’s team has won just one of their previous five games in all competitions.
Roma’s form in the Europa League has also been inconsistent lately. They have won two and lost two of their last four matches.
The team from the Italian capital have been involved in several low-scoring encounters in the Europa League lately.
Roma haven’t exactly thrived on their travels in the competition either. A 1-0 win at Milan in the last round ended a four-game winless run on their travels for the Giallorossi.
Their recent away games in the Europa League have been low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in ten of their last 11 games.
What am I backing?Bayer Leverkusen will be confident of finishing the job and progressing to the Europa League final, which is why the bet I am backing is the home win.