Man Utd v Roma predictions: United can forge narrow first-leg lead

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for the Manchester United v Roma Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Thursday

Best bet

Man Utd & under 3.5 goals
1pt 6-5 Betfred, Paddy Power

Team news

Manchester United
Phil Jones and Anthony Martial (both knee) remain unavailable but Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay should feature after serving Europa League suspensions.

Roma
Antonio Mirante (unknown injury), Nicolo Zaniolo (knee), Ricardo Calafiori and Pedro (muscle strains) are sidelined and Federico Fazio and Juan Jesus are not part of the Europa League squad. Gianluca Mancini is suspended.

Match preview

Manchester United's wafer-thin Premier League title hopes are even slimmer after their goalless draw at Leeds on Sunday but they are the favourites to win the Europa League and can close in on a place in the final by defeating Roma at Old Trafford.

Solid defence has underpinned United's Europa League challenge with clean sheets kept in five of their six knockout-stage matches and they need to stay focused against Roma, who have some talented individuals in their side.

Roma's hopes of a top-four finish in Serie A have evaporated but they have been consistently strong in the Europa League and were 2-1 aggregate winners over Dutch leaders Ajax in the quarter-finals.

Among their most influential players is former United attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has found a new lease of life since moving from Arsenal to the Eternal City, initially on a loan basis, in September 2019.

The Armenian has contributed nine goals and eight assists in 29 Serie A appearances this season and should be nice and fresh after being restricted to a substitute appearance in Sunday's 3-2 defeat at Cagliari.

Mkhitaryan was one of several key players left out of the weekend starting line-up with Roma manager Paulo Fonseca signalling his willingness to forego Serie A points for potential progress to a European final.

Veteran centre-forward Edin Dzeko was an unused substitute at Cagliari but is likely to lead the line in Manchester as he seeks to add to his four Europa League goals this season.

And there will be a goalscoring threat from midfield with former Aston Villa midfielder Jordan Veretout keen to add to his seasonal tally of 11 goals in all competitions.

United's defence are likely to be asked more questions than in the quarter-finals when they cruised to back-to-back 2-0 successes over Granada.

But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has established a solid set-up with Fred and Scott McTominay lending protection to an established back four and another shutout looks within his team's capabilities.

As well as keeping things tight, United will be anxious to register a fourth successive Europa League victory.

And they should find the net at least once against a Roma side weakened by the absence of suspended right-sided central defender Gianluca Mancini.

Edinson Cavani has been in excellent touch, scoring in three of his last four appearances, and Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba are capable of turning any game with a flash of brilliance.

United should get the victory they crave but are unlikely to cut loose and may still have work to do when heading to the Italian capital next week.

Key stat

Manchester United's last five Europa League matches have featured fewer than three goals.

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