Group G’s top-two tussle in the Czech capital on UEFA Europa League (UEL) matchday four, as Slavia Prague host Roma knowing that a win would see them move to the summit. That would be huge for Slavia, who have reached the quarter-finals on their last two UEL appearances, and their chances of taking a step closer to making that three in-a-row are boosted by the fact all three of their historical wins against Italian opposition came on home turf (W3, D3, L9).
That only tells half the story though, as none of the last three times they welcomed Italian opposition to the Fortuna Arena yielded a victory (D2, L1). Recent home history has at least been much kinder, as Slavia have tasted just one competitive defeat on home turf since October 2022, although admittedly that was against Viktoria Plzeň at the weekend (2-1), thus missing the chance to move top of the Czech First League. But given they’ve won each of their three UEL games ‘to nil’ here this season, confidence should still be relatively high, especially as Roma have never beaten Czech opposition away from home (D1, L2).
That said, Roma should arrive in an upbeat mood after scoring two injury-time goals to recover to beat Lecce on Sunday, and with three wins from three in Group G so far, many will be expecting this to be a walk in the park for the Italian giants. That may not necessarily transpire though, as Roma’s matchday one win against Sheriff was their first European away win in five attempts (D2, L2).
Away form across all competitions this season also paints a gloomy picture for Roma (W2, D1, L3), but those games have at least provided entertainment for the neutral, with five seeing both teams get on the scoresheet. While that would suggest entertainment, the Giallorossi’s more recent results would suggest this could be a fruitless evening for them as seven of their last eight games have been won by the home side on the day.
Players to watch: Mojmír Chytil opened the scoring in Slavia’s last UEL home outing, but he’s actually closed the scoring on five of his six scoring appearances this season. Romelu Lukaku was on the scoresheet in Roma’s 2-0 victory in the reverse – he’s now scored in 14 successive UEL fixtures.
Hot stat: Roma have conceded exactly once in four of their last five away games.
