Porto have a better record for head to head against Roma, Roma have recorded two wins, two draws and a defeat to Roma. The home side has shown resilience in their recent fixtures and have proven to be a stronger side playing at home with a good home record compared to Roma's away performances. I predict Porto to get a win against Roma in their Europa League meeting.
Yes, you are right that besides Porto having a pretty good record when facing AS Roma, but on the other hand in the first match of the UEFA Europa League playoffs they will also appear as hosts. So the possibility for Porto to win this match is quite large. However, one thing that makes me a little doubtful about Porto, where lately they have experienced a series of bad results in the domestic league, Porto has only been able to win 3 points in its last 5 matches in the Portuguese league with 2 defeats and 3 draws. So will Porto really win the match against AS Roma..?
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It is indeed difficult to understand that 2 clubs representing the English League in the UEFA Europa League, can finish in a fairly good position and directly qualify for the round of 16, even though if you look at their performance in the English League, their position in the standings is quite low. And my assumption is, this is because the English League presents quite competitive competition, so even though their performance is bad in the domestic league, they can still compete in the Europa League against teams from other leagues.
Another example is Aston Villa, where they are currently only in 8th position in the EPL standings, but surprisingly, Unai Emery's team was able to perform well in the Champions League, and they were even able to directly qualify for the round of 16. In the UCL, 3 clubs from England managed to penetrate the last 16, along with one club, Manchester City, who fought in the playoffs.
Porto have a better record for head to head against Roma, Roma have recorded two wins, two draws and a defeat to Roma. The home side has shown resilience in their recent fixtures and have proven to be a stronger side playing at home with a good home record compared to Roma's away performances. I predict Porto to get a win against Roma in their Europa League meeting.
In the EPL they are in a pretty bad position and even almost entered the relegation zone several times. And this makes me wonder whether the English league is better than other leagues, so that teams that are currently performing poorly in the domestic league, are able to perform impressively in the European league..?