Roma-Brighton is a match valid for the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 and is played on Thursday at 6:45 pm: live TV, probable formations, predictions.
Daniele De Rossi vs. Roberto De Zerbi. This is how the challenge between Roma and Brighton can be summarized: two friends but above all two people who respect each other, to the point that the current Giallorossi coach has admitted several times that he was inspired by the playing principles of the Brescia coach, from September 2022 on the bench of the English club.
And it was precisely thanks to his proactive ideas that De Rossi managed, in a very short time, to lift Roma and disprove the most skeptical: his only experience, in fact, had been the (very brief) one in Serie B at the helm of Spal. The former captain-to-be picked up the pieces left by the Mourinho management, immediately affecting both the players’ heads and at the tactical level. Since he has been at the helm, Pellegrini and his teammates have always won, with the exception of the defeat to Inter and the two draws with Feyenoord in the play-off for access to the Europa League round of 16. In the league, Roma has returned to breathe air of fourth place and after last Saturday’s 4-1 win against Monza, it bypassed Atalanta and moved to within -4 of Bologna.
Brighton in oxygen debt
The statistic that immediately jumps to the eye is that of the offensive numbers: with De Rossi, Roma has never run out of goals. And only on two occasions, since mid-January, has he scored less than one.
However, it took penalties to knock Feyenoord out, and the double-header with the Seagulls also promises to be a very balanced one, which could provide goals and excitement. Brighton, which has never played in Europe before this season, is particularly suffering from the double commitment and has rarely found the right continuity, also because of the many injuries De Zerbi has had to deal with. And it is no coincidence that as many as three defeats have come in the last five games, the last one, a very heavy one, suffered last Saturday at home to Fulham (3-0). Even in the group stage Brighton had not shone, winning only in the end the duel for first place with Marseille, thanks to a “suicide” of the team coached at the time by Gattuso.
Only ninth in the Premier League, the Seagulls at the Olimpico will have to do without Mitoma, Joao Pedro, March, Milner and Hinschelwood, all of whom are injured. De Zerbi is expected to reintroduce the 3-4-2-1 with Buonanotte and Enciso behind Ferguson. Roma will be without Karsdorp and Abraham, as well as Kristensen, who is not on the Uefa lists. De Rossi will give space to Celik and Spinazzola on the flanks, while in midfield Bove will challenge Cristante and Paredes.
The prediction
Roma is in better shape than Brighton at the moment and should take advantage of the uninspiring moment De Zerbi’s Seagulls, plagued by injuries, are going through. Giallorossi favored in a match in which both will most likely score.
Roma-Brighton
probable lineups.
ROMA (4-3-3): Svilar; Celik, Mancini, N’Dicka, Spinazzola; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy.
BRIGHTON (3-4-2-1): Steele; Igor, Dunk, van Hecke; Lamptey, Gilmour, Gross, Estupinan; Goodnight, Enciso; Ferguson.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
