Roma v Leicester predicted XIs: Team news as Rodgers claims Foxes don’t need Europe to make deals
AS Roma will be looking to break Leicester City hearts when they host the Foxes in the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday at 8pm (UK time).
Jose Mourinho’s men led the first leg thanks to Nicolo Zaniolo’s goal but were pegged back when Gianluca Mancini put the ball into his own net midway through the second half, setting the tie up brilliantly for this game at the Stadio Olimpico. With no away goals, it’s a straight knockout match.
Roma vs Leicester betting tips from Squawka Bet
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Roma team news vs Leicester:
- Outs: None
Mourinho has no concerns for this game but was unhappy that he wasn’t able to rest as many players as he would have liked at the weekend, with Roma still looking to secure European football through their league finish – though they have now failed to qualify for the Champions League.
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Predicted Roma XI vs Leicester:
- Patricio; Mancini, Ibanez, Smalling; Karsdorp, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan, Cristante, Zalewski; Zaniolo, Abraham. (3-5-2).
Leicester team news vs Roma:
- Outs: Ryan Bertrand, Wilfred Ndidi
- Doubts: James Maddison, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Leicester will hope they can call upon James Maddison and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall for this crunch clash, with both players facing late fitness tests.
The Foxes’ defeat to Tottenham at the weekend has left them in the bottom half of the Premier League table and Opta’s AI-powered season predictions model has given them a 0.04% of qualifying for the Europa League through their league finish, and 2.14% of returning to Europa Conference League. So, winning the Europa Conference League could be their best chance of qualifying for next season’s Europa League.
However, Brendan Rodgers isn’t too bothered at the impact no European football could have on Leicester’s transfer plans, believing the club is big enough on its own to be appealing for players.
“Over the history of Leicester City there haven’t been too many issues in signing players,” he said.
“The club have only been in Europe for the past few seasons, it’s never stopped them being able to sign good players before. We would love to be in Europe, but if not, I still think we can attract a good level of player. We would also have more coaching time next season and hopefully we can challenge again.”
He elaborated: “Firstly, you’re playing in the most competitive league, you’re in a team that wants to be competitive, when you look at our recent history, you can see we predominantly are that.
“You have a chance to come here and develop as a player, improve as a player, in arguably the world’s best training facility, in the world’s best league, and with a group of staff who want to develop you as a football player.
“It’s a club that’s a real community club where you’ll be looked after and taken care of. Any organisation is about one thing: the people and how they’re treated. For me, this club stands alone in how it looks after its players and its staff. That in itself is a real draw for players to come here.”
Predicted Leicester XI vs Roma:
- Schmeichel; Pereira, Fofana, Evans, Castagne; Soumare, Tielemans; Albrighton, Barnes, Lookman; Vardy. (4-2-3-1)
