The first ever match between Roma and Brighton takes place on Thursday night as the Europa League round of 16 commences.
Roma are at home for the first leg as former Sassuolo boss Roberto De Zerbi returns to Italy with the Brighton side he has guided into a first ever European adventure.
After reaching the final of last season’s competition, Roma go into the game as favourites, but games between two sides who have never played each other can be unpredictable.
The six Roma players who have faced Brighton before Europa League tie
That said, Roma go into the game on the back of three consecutive wins in Serie A, whereas Brighton’s form in the Premier League has consisted of one win, one draw and one loss in their three most recent games.
Furthermore, the visitors are missing key winger Kaoru Mitoma through injury. The Roma player he may have been coming up against, Rasmus Kristensen, is also out.
Unless Chris Smalling starts for his 150th appearance for the club, Roma are expected to use a back four against De Zerbi’s side, who could line up with a back three.
The game kicks off at 5:45pm UK time and will be live on TNT Sports 2. Oh, and it’ll be our first ever Giallorossi Yorkshire meetup, at Walkabout Leeds!
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