- 1 Roma vs Slovan Bratislava: second in Serie A, still without a Champions League win since 2019
- 2 Roma: five Serie A clean sheets, but Svilar, Kone and Cristante are all missing
- 3 Slovan Bratislava: a 3-0 win in Trnava, one goal in 180 minutes of Europe
- 4 Free Champions League Prediction: Roma vs Slovan Bratislava
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Roma vs Slovan Bratislava: second in Serie A, still without a Champions League win since 2019 
Roma’s last win in the Champions League came in 2019. Their return to the competition this autumn has produced one point from two games, and the second of them, a 4-3 home defeat to Real Madrid last Wednesday, showed both how dangerous Gian Piero Gasperini’s side can be and how quickly their shape can come apart once a European game opens up.
That record sits awkwardly next to the domestic one. Roma are second in Serie A with 17 points from seven matches and haven’t lost a league game. They’ve scored 16 and conceded three, and five of those seven matches ended with a clean sheet, including Saturday’s 2-0 win over Genoa at the Olimpico.
Slovan Bratislava arrive on Tuesday, kick-off 20:00 UK time, bottom of the 36-team league phase. They lost 6-1 at Paris Saint-Germain on matchday one and 3-0 at home to Stuttgart last week, which leaves them on zero points with one goal scored and nine conceded. They’re also the only club to lose their first ten games in the competition’s top tier.
Slovan have lost ten of their 11 away matches in the European Cup and the Champions League, and the one exception dates back to 1970. Since their first league-phase campaign two years ago, they’ve conceded an average of 3.6 goals per game in this competition.
There is one old result Slovan supporters will bring up. Fifteen years ago the Slovak club knocked Roma out of Europa League qualifying, 2-1 on aggregate, and it remains the only previous tie between the two. Very little from that summer has any bearing on Tuesday.
The bookmakers price Roma at 1.14, so the winner isn’t really the question. What interests me more is whether Slovan’s attack, which has one goal in 180 minutes of Champions League football, can get past a defence that has let in three league goals all season, even with a stand-in goalkeeper behind it.
Roma: five Serie A clean sheets, but Svilar, Kone and Cristante are all missing 
The absences come first. Mile Svilar suffered a stress fracture of the fifth toe and was ruled out for around a month from 10 October, so Gollini stays in goal. Manu Kone went off in the first half against Real Madrid with a first-degree muscle injury, and Gasperini hopes to have him back around the Sassuolo game on 7 November.
Bryan Cristante scored Roma’s first Champions League goal since March 2019 in the 1-1 draw at Fenerbahce, and he’s now out with a knee problem. Paulo Dybala has been carrying calf fatigue since he came off at half-time against Madrid, while Lorenzo Pellegrini is back from surgery but still building his fitness.
None of that stopped Roma beating Genoa on Saturday. Santiago Castro scored five minutes after the break and Emanuele Lulli added his first Serie A goal on 68 minutes, with the back three of Balerdi, Ndicka and Koulierakis allowing Genoa very little. A week earlier Roma drew 0-0 at Como, which fits the pattern of the season: they defend first, and when the attack doesn’t click they still rarely lose.
Donyell Malen is the player who raises the ceiling. He missed the Genoa game through a domestic suspension, so he arrives fresh, with six Serie A goals and two of the three Roma scored against Real Madrid. Marten de Roon got the other that night, on 20 minutes.
Europe is where the doubts lie. Roma are winless in five European games and have lost four of their last six European home matches. Against Madrid the game stretched late on, and a back line that looks calm against Serie A opposition conceded three times after the 83rd minute, to Carlos Espi, Endrick and finally Antonio Rudiger.
Slovan don’t carry Madrid’s threat on the break, and Roma’s league defending is a better guide to Tuesday than one chaotic night against Real Madrid. With Svilar out, though, Gollini will need to be as steady as he was against Genoa.
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Slovan Bratislava: a 3-0 win in Trnava, one goal in 180 minutes of Europe 
Yaya Toure’s side travel in decent domestic form. On Saturday they won 3-0 at Spartak Trnava, who sit second in the Nike liga, with Rahim Ibrahim scoring after 19 minutes and again on 81, and Adam Griger adding the second before half-time. That result left Slovan fourth, a point behind Trnava.
A 1-1 draw at Skalica, a 3-3 at home to Zilina, a 2-0 defeat at Dunajska Streda and a 2-1 home loss to Michalovce all came in the last two months, and they describe a side that scores goals and gives them away in roughly equal measure.
In Europe the second half of that description has taken over. Against Stuttgart, Deniz Undav scored on 29 minutes, Sandro Cruz turned the ball into his own net on 65 and Ermedin Demirovic added a third in the 90th minute. Toure made five changes from the previous weekend, and goalkeeper Takac made several saves to stop the score getting worse.
Suleiman Camara is Slovan’s most reliable route to goal. He scored their only goal at the Parc des Princes, had a finish ruled out for offside after a VAR check against Stuttgart, and started up front in Trnava. Tigran Barseghyan, usually on the right, has taken five shots and created five chances from open play in the two European games.
Andraz Sporar, who had four league goals by late September, could lead the line instead, with Camara moving wide. Whichever way Toure sets up, Slovan’s output against Champions League opposition this season stands at one goal, and it came in a 6-1 defeat.
No injuries or suspensions have been reported, so Toure has a full squad to pick from. That same full squad has conceded nine goals in two Champions League games and failed to keep a clean sheet in seven of its last eight matches.
Probable lineup Roma: Gollini; Mancini, Ndicka, Hermoso; Lulli, De Roon, Pisilli, Wesley; Soule, Pellegrini; Malen
Probable lineup Slovan Bratislava: Takac; Blackman, Bajric, Markovic, Cruz; Pokorny, Ibrahim; Barseghyan, Martinez, Camara; Sporar
Free Champions League Prediction: Roma vs Slovan Bratislava
Our prediction: Both teams to score: No @ 1.80
A Roma win at 1.14 offers almost nothing, so I’d look at the other end of the pitch. Roma have kept five clean sheets in seven Serie A matches and conceded three league goals all season. Slovan have scored once in 180 minutes of Champions League football and have lost ten of their 11 away games at this level.
The argument against is Roma’s European defending: one conceded at Fenerbahce, four against Madrid, and Svilar watching from the stands. But Madrid had Mbappe and a late collapse to feed on, and Slovan’s attack depends heavily on Camara, who has one Champions League goal this season.
Expect Roma to win by two or three, something like 2-0 or 3-0, with Malen at the centre of it. Both teams to score “No” at 1.80 is the pick.
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