Leicester vs Roma: preview of Europa Conference League semifinal

King Power Stadium prior to the Europa Conference League match between Leicester City and PSV (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
King Power Stadium prior to the Europa Conference League match between Leicester City and PSV (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /
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UEFA Conference League final ambassador and former Albanian footballer Lorik Cana shows the slip of AS Roma (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
UEFA Conference League final ambassador and former Albanian footballer Lorik Cana shows the slip of AS Roma (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) /

Roma are the favourites but there are issues

Based on form, La Lupa (The She-Wolf) are improving all the time under the Portuguese. Up until this weekend, they enjoyed a 12 game unbeaten run until Scudetto chasing Inter Milan ended that streak with a 3-1 defeat. Those three goals conceded matched the amount they had allowed in a previous seven; with Mourinho staying on brand with his classic reinforcing defences.

In the European Conference league, its been relatively smooth despite a couple of bizarre defeats to Bodo Glimt with one in the group stage ending an embarrassing 6-1 scoreline. It is telling that in the knockout stages Roma have failed to win both legs. Not to mention making slightly hard work of relatively easy looking fixtures. Given Leicester’s patchy recent form it’s easy to see why they will go into this as underdogs – but there are reasons they should feel confident.

Familiar faces wary of famous Leicester City hitman

As Mourinho no doubt watched the Leicester City vs Aston Villa outing again, he would have been mainly drowsy and baffled at how dull a Premier League game could be. But what would have piqued his interest, is the return of City’s No.9 Jamie Vardy. A world famous name that strikes fear into the opposition.