After securing seven winners from his last ten FBOTD selections, Kev’s taking us to Rome to see how Jose Mourinho is getting on in Italy.
Capital club to impress
Roma v CSKA Sofia
Thursday 16 September, 20:00
Live on BT Sport ESPN
It was a chaotic game with three goals and two red cards in Argentina last night, but Rosario Central came from behind to win 2-1 and maintain our perfect start to the week.
We’ll check in with the new UEFA Europa Conference League now (that name needs work) as Roma take on CSKA Sofia in the first round of group matches.
Roma have made a terrific start to the season under new coach Jose Mourinho, and having won the Champions League, the Europa League and the old UEFA Cup, the Portuguese coach wants to add this new trophy to his collection. He certainly has the strength in depth to give it a proper go, as well as pushing for a high finish in Serie A.
Roma have won all five of their competitive matches so far, and they beat Turkish side Trabzonspor home and away in qualifying. The Giallorossi have scored at least twice in all of those victories, and three of the success were by at least two goals.
Despite the loss of Edin Dzeko to Inter, Roma still have plenty of firepower. Summer signings Eldor Shomurodov and Tammy Abraham have made a strong start, while Borja Mayoral and Stephan El Shaarawy (who scored a dramatic winner against Sassuolo) are also great options.
I expect Mourinho to field a side that will be strong enough to dismiss Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia. CSKA squeezed past Viktoria Plzen in the final playoff, but it’s worth noting that they lost the away leg 2-0. They needed penalties to see off Latvian side Liepaja, and they drew 1-1 at Croatian outfit Osijek, so there’s not much here to scare Roma.
I’ll back the hosts -1.5 on the Asian Handicap at 1.814/5.
Source: BetFair Tips
