Feyenoord vs Roma Prediction: Dutch giants to cut down Italian foes

The Europa League has reached the knockout round play-off stage and there is a huge clash on Thursday taking place at De Kuip, where Feyenoord host Roma. 

Feyenoord secured their place in the play-off round of this competition after finishing third in their Champions League group and the club are eyeing a first piece of European silverware since winning the 2002 UEFA Cup. 

As for Roma, they were second in their Europa League group, two points behind Slavia Prague, and new head coach Daniele De Rossi will be eager for a deep run in this tournament. 

Team News 

Feyenoord's top scorer Santiago Gimenez missed Sunday's win over Sparta Rotterdam due to a head injury and it is unclear whether he will be available for this clash. 

Quinten Timber suffered a severe concussion earlier this month and is expected to miss out once again, while Gernot Trauner, Justin Bijlow and Thomas van den Belt are all sidelined with injuries. 

Roma are missing Tammy Abraham due to injury and he could be joined in the treatment room by Bryan Cristante, who was withdrawn against Inter at the weekend due to a back problem. 

Chris Smalling has returned to full training and is in contention to play, but Evan Ndicka is expected to miss out having helped Ivory Coast recently win the Africa Cup of Nations. 

Match Odds 

Feyenoord are the 21/20 favourites to pick up the win on home soil, with the draw priced at 13/5 and Roma 5/2 to take a lead back to the Stadio Olimpico. 

Both teams have found the net in six of Roma's last eight games and it is 8/11 for that bet to land on Thursday. 

Feyenoord to win @ 21/20 

Feyenoord's away record in European competition makes for dreadful reading, as they haven't won any of their last 21 away matches across the Europa League and Champions League, so this first leg in the Netherlands is absolutely crucial. 

While Arne Slot's side have struggled on the road, it has been a completely different story at home and they are on a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions at De Kuip. 

The Dutch giants are also unbeaten in their last five Europa League outings at home and they beat Roma 1-0 when they met here in the first leg of their quarter-final clash in last season's competition. 

Feyenoord should have too much for a Roma side under new guidance following the sacking of Jose Mourinho, with club legend Daniele De Rossi named as the Portuguese's replacement. 

The 40-year-old has made a solid start to his reign, racking up three victories in a row before going down 4-2 at home to Inter Milan last time out. 

While the Giallorossi should give a decent account of themselves, they may struggle to take a lead back to the Stadio Olimpico. 

#PickYourPunt - Both teams to score, Paulo Dybala to score anytime & Roma over 19.5 booking points @ 4/1 

There looks to be a high chance of goals in this encounter and backing both teams to score is the first part of this #PickYourPunt. 

Feyenoord have failed to score in just one of their last 15 assignments, while both teams to score has landed in all four of De Rossi's matches in charge. 

One potential scorer for Roma is Paulo Dybala, who has notched three times from his last three appearances and heads into this fixture full of confidence. 

Rounding off this #PickYourPunt is Roma to have over 19.5 booking points. The Giallorossi have picked up two or more yellows in three of De Rossi's four matches at the helm and this trend can continue in the Netherlands.