Jose Mourinho, already with one Europa League trophy in his career, steers Roma further into the European competitions as they host Spanish club Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Round of 16 matchup.
"The Special One" won this competition back in 2017 with Manchester United, and lifted the Europa Conference League championship last season with the Italian club. Roma are in a fierce battle for the last few Champions League places in the Serie A table, and Mourinho will know winning this competition would also do the trick for earning a spot in Europe's top competition next season.
He has struggled to find consistency domestically, but Roma bounced back from a disappointing defeat to Cremonese by topping Juventus last time out. They have been much better defensively of late, conceding more than one goal just once in the last seven matches, being the 2-1 loss to Cremonese.
La Real, like Roma, are also fourth in their domestic league table, but their recent form has dipped significantly, blanked in their last two games despite facing a pair of relegation candidates in Valencia and Cadiz.
AS Roma vs Real Sociedad match facts
- Date: Thursday, March 9
- Kickoff Time: 12:45 pm ET / 5:45 pm GMT / 4:45 am AEDT (Fri, Mar. 10)
- Location: Stadio Olimpico (Rome, Italy)
- Official: Sandro Scharer (SWI)
- Last meeting: NONE (First meeting)
AS Roma vs Real Sociedad prediction, odds
- Moneyline lean: AS Roma (+125)
- Score prediction: AS Roma 1-0 Real Sociedad
Neither team has been good at creating chances, and they've been even worse in front of goal. Roma are the worst finishing team in Serie A by a mile with their -12.28 xG differential, with Tammy Abraham especially plagued with scoring issues. Real Sociedad's -5.59 mark, meanwhile, fits right in to a La Liga table rife with finishing issues, highlighted by their best goalscoring threat in Alexander Sorloth for some reason coming off the bench.
Add in the fact that Roma are the best defensive team in Serie A by xA, and Real Sociedad are the fourth-best defensive side in La Liga, and it's no wonder the odds are wildly skewed towards a lack of goals.
| BetMGM (USA) | Sports Interaction (Canada) | SkyBet (UK) | Neds (Australia) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roma win | +125 | +106 | 6/5 | 2.25 |
| Draw | +200 | +218 | 2/1 | 3.00 |
| La Real win | +260 | +270 | 12/5 | 3.45 |
| Both teams to score Y / N | +115 / -160 | +108 / -169 | 1/1, 8/11 | 2.10 / 1.67 |
| Over / Under 2.5 goals | +150 / -210 | +160 / -208 | 6/4, 1/2 | 2.60 / 1.46 |
| Roma advance | -110 | — | 10/11 | 1.91 |
| La Real advance | -125 | — | 4/5 | 1.80 |
AS Roma vs Real Sociedad: Best bet
- Pick: 2H draw and under 1.5 total goals
- Odds: +195 (BetMGM)
While this match should be a low-scoring affair between two defensive sides, the under presents no value, so we have to find other openings.
The second half of matches are usually slightly higher scoring than the first as teams open themselves up in search of a result, but that's not necessarily the case for Roma. Their expected goals this season in league play is just slightly higher in the second half, and four times in the last seven games across all competitions they have played to a scoreless final 45 minutes. There's great value in this one here at nearly 2/1 odds, with a defensive battle expected.
AS Roma vs Real Sociedad live stream, TV channel
MORE: Watch Premier League matches live with fuboTV in USA
| TV channel | Streaming | |
|---|---|---|
| USA | — | Paramount+, ViX+ |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
| UK | BT Sport 4 | BT Sport |
| Australia | — | Stan Sport |
| New Zealand | — | Spark Sport |
| India | Sony TEN 1 | Sony LIV, JioTV |
| Hong Kong | beIN Sports 5 | beIN Sports Connect |
| Malaysia | — | beIN Sports Connect |
| Singapore | — | beIN Sports Connect |
