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Ludogorets will entertain Roma at the Stadium Ludogorets Arena in their UEFA Europa League opener on Thursday.
The hosts are in the group stage of the competition for the seventh season in a row but have made the knockouts just thrice in this period. They began their campaign in the first round of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, where they beat Zalgiris 4-3 on aggregate in the playoffs.
Roma, meanwhile, won the inaugural edition of the Europa Conference League last season. They are back in the Europa League for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign, when they lost 8-5 on aggregate against Manchester United in the semifinals.
Ludogorets vs Roma Head-to-Head
This will be the first meeting between the two teams across competitions. Both Ludogorets and Roma have experience of going up against teams from Italy and Bulgaria respectively.
In ten games against Bulgarian opponents, Roma have suffered just two defeats and picked up seven wins, while one game has ended in a draw. The hosts have met Italian opponents six times, winning and drawing just once apiece and losing four.
Ludogorets form guide (all competitions): W-W-W-D-W
Roma form guide (all competitions): L-W-D-W-W
Ludogorets vs Roma Team News
Ludogorets
Claude Goncalves is the only reported absentee for the Eagles, as Cauly returned to the fold in the second leg of the playoff against Zalgiris.
Injured: Claude Goncalves
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Roma
Stephan El Shaarawy and Marash Kumbulla have muscle injuries and will return to the fold after the international break. Tammy Abraham left Roma's 4-0 loss in Serie A against Udinese with shoulder pain and is sidelined for this game.
Nicolò Zaniolo also has a shoulder injury and has been sidelined for a few weeks. Georginio Wijnaldum is a long-term absentee after suffering a broken leg during training last month.
Injured: Georginio Wijnaldum, Nicolo Zaniolo, Marash Kumbulla, Stephan El Shaarawy, Ebrima Darboe, Tammy Abraham
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Ludogorets vs Roma Predicted XIs
Ludogorets (4-3-3): Simon Sluga; Cicinho, Anton Nedyalkov, Olivier Verdon, Denny Gropper; Ivan Yordanov, Jakub Piotrowski, Manuel Cafumana; Kiril Despodov, Bernard Tekpetey, Igor Nascimento
Roma (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling, Roger Ibanez; Zeki Celik, Bryan Cristante, Nemanja Matic, Leonardo Spinazzola; Paulo Dybala, Lorenzo Pellegrini; Andrea Belotti
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Ludogorets vs Roma Prediction
The hosts are in solid form at the moment and are unbeaten in their last six games across competitions. Roma suffered their first defeat of the campaign in their previous outing, falling to a 4-0 away loss to Udinese.
Nonetheless, I Giallorossi have the upper hand in terms of squad quality and should be secure a narrow win here.
Prediction: Ludogorets 1-2 Roma
