25* EUROPA LEAGUE SEMIFINAL MATCH OF THE YEAR
- Handicapper
- Hollywood Sports
- League
- SOCCER
- Competition
- Manchester United vs AS Roma
- Time
- 05/06/2021 03:00 PM
- Bet Type
- Goal Line
- Pick
-
Manchester United -0.5 (-120)
(BetOnline)
- Outcome
- Loss
- Analysis
- At 3:00 PM ET on Thursday, we will be playing Manchester United (224409) minus the goal-line versus AS Roma (224410) in the second leg in the Semifinals of the Europa League. THE SITUATION: Manchester United won the first leg of the semifinals with a 6-2 victory last Thursday. Roma must score at least four goals to make even the goal differential — a 4-0 or 5-1 score secures them the away goal tiebreaker, while a 6-2 result after regulation time would trigger an extra-time playoff.
REASONS TO TAKE MAN UNITED MINUS THE GOAL-LINE: Manchester United took an early lead against Roma last week before going into halftime with a 2-1 deficit. But then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side put it into another gear by scoring five unanswered goals in the second half for the easy victory. The Red Devils generated 4.25 expected goals — so their offensive domination was not a fluke. Now with their match with Liverpool on Sunday postponed due to the fan protests at Old Trafford, Solskjaer’s group is rested and ready. Man United is in second place in the English Premier League which might overvalue their quality — they are not as good as Chelsea, and they are not as good as Liverpool despite the reigning EPL champions experiencing a down-year hit-hard by injuries. And they may not be as good as the Leicester City team that handed them their only loss since February in the Quarterfinals of the FA Cup. But the Red Devils are much better with a healthy (and engaged) Paul Pogba joining Bruno Fernandes in their midfield. Man United has now won 13 of their last 18 matches across all competitions. The Red Devils have been reliable on the road this season. They are second in the EPL with 37 points away from home with a W10-D7-L0 mark. They have won four of their last six matches on the road across all competitions. Roma is just not very good — and they are riddled with injuries and now playing for a lame-duck coach. They are winless in their last six matches across all competitions with four losses after losing at Sampdoria in Seria A competition by a 2-0 score on Sunday. Defeating Ajax in the Quarterfinals of the Europa League was a nice accomplishment for the Yellow and Reds — but they lost the expected goals (xG) battle in both contests to the Dutch side. In fact, they were dominated — they managed only 1.62 xG combined with an expected goals allowed (xGA) mark of 4.43 xGA. Roma is only in seventh place in Serie A — a distant eight points behind the sixth-place Lazio. They have allowed at least three goals in three of their last five matches across all competitions. They have conceded 2.5 xGA or higher in four of their last eight league matches despite not facing a tough schedule. They are not close to full strength at this point of the season either. First string goaltender Pau Lopez is out. Midfielders Jordan Veretout and Leonardo Spinazzola are doubts after suffering injuries against Man United last week. Amadou Diawara and Carles Perez are dealing with knocks from the Sunday match. To compound matters, manager Paulo Fonseca was informed he will not return to the franchise next fall with the upper brass hiring Jose Mourinho to be the new skipper earlier in the week.
FINAL TAKE: Man United may be overrated a tad — but they are still one of the better teams in the English Premier League. Roma is not as good, relatively, in Serie A which is vastly inferior to the EPL — and now they are playing for a lame-duck manager. The Red Devils have a busy EPL schedule coming up so they will be cautious with this match in hand — but since the Yellow and Reds must play aggressively to score at least four goals, the counter-attacking opportunities will be ever-present. Solskjaer’s teams at Man United have been at their most effective when able to sit back and counter-attack rather than playing on their front foot. 25* UEFA Europa League Semifinals Match of the Year with Manchester United (224409) minus the goal-line versus AS Roma (224410). Best of luck for us — Frank.
