Real Sociedad vs Roma Predictions & Match Preview

Real Sociedad vs Roma predictions and match preview for Thursday’s UEFA Europa League fixture. Read on for analysis as La Real aim to fight back from a 2-0 deficit.

Real Sociedad vs Roma Preview

Real Sociedad welcome Roma to Donostia this weekend with a place in the last eight of the Europa League up for grabs for the winners. The Italian side are firmly in pole position though after winning the 1st Leg 2-0 thanks to goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Marash Kumbulla.

It’s a slightly familiar feeling for Real Sociedad fans with their side again seemingly struggling to kick on after a strong start to the season. They have three times previously progressed from a Europa League group and on each occasion they have been knocked out at the first knockout hurdle and they’ll need a fine comeback to avoid a repeat here.

Their current lack of goal threat appears to make that unlikely though. They’ve only managed to score 2 goals in their last 5 games in all competitions, winning none of them. The likes of Take Kubo, Brais Mendez and Alexander Sorloth, who all excelled in the earlier parts of the season, haven’t been offering as much of a goal threat in recent weeks while Mikel Oyarzabal is still to find his best level following long-term injury.

Their chances here aren’t aided by a strong Roma defence that doesn’t concede many goals. They’ve let in under a goal per game on average in Serie A this term and the same is true in the Europa League. They saw off RB Salzburg in the previous round and Jose Mourinho would have been pleased with his side’s display in the 1st Leg of this tie.

Having won the UEFA Conference League last season, Roma have certainly got the appetite for another long European run and they’ve built up plenty of experience in a short time when it comes to negotiating these two-legged ties. It’s likely to be a conservative performance from the Italians here and they’ll expect Real Sociedad to come at them, but Roma are in a strong position to progress.

Score Prediction: Real Sociedad 0-0 Roma (Agg: 0-2)

Real Sociedad haven’t been at their best for a number of weeks now and the goals have dried up. Up against solid, defensive opposition, they often struggle to break teams down in any case and it’s hard to see them coming back from a two goal deficit.

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