Tottenham Hotspur vs. Roma lineup, odds: Where to watch Europa League, live stream, pick, prediction

Tottenham Hotspur will welcome Roma on Thursday in one of the most anticipated matches of Matchday 5 in the UEFA Europa League, with both sides in contrasting form.

Spurs lost at Galatasaray on Matchday 4 but are still firmly in the top eight and have a chance to further solidify their standing with a win this week. Roma, meanwhile, sit 20th after just one win in their first four Europa League games and could use the points to boost their chances of making it to the next round with just four games to go in the league phase.

Here's what you need to know before tuning in.

How to watch and odds

• Date: Thursday, November 28 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium -- London, England
• Watch: Paramount+
• Odds: Tottenham Hotspur -140; Draw +310; Roma +310

Storylines

Tottenham Hotspur: Inconsistent as they may be, there are still plenty of positives for Spurs as they continue year two of their rebuild under manager Ange Postecoglou. They are the top scorers in the Premier League with 27 goals in 12 Games, four of which came in an impactful 4-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday. They also rank in the top three in a handful of attacking statistics, finding goals from a variety of players. Brennan Johnson surprisingly leads the pack with eight goals across all comPetitions, while new signing Dominic Solanke has settled in nicely with six goals himself so far this season.

One of Spurs' issues, though, is that they are somewhat leaky in the back, conceding 13 goals in Premier League action so far and four in Europa League play. It is not entirely unsurprising considering Postecoglou's tactical preferences, though the problem is sometimes exacerbated on the days they struggle to score goals. Despite leading with an attack-minded philosophy, Spurs have run a bit hot and cold in that category this season. In Premier League action, their expected goals against figure remains steady on the days they win (7.6) and the days they do not (7.7), but they are so far generating 17.1 expected goals in their six wins and 6.6 expected goals in their six winless Games.

Which version of Spurs will show up is hard to know, especially as Postecoglou has been rotating through his squad to manage the demands of European action. First-choice center backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero will miss this game, and though he was unlikely to play on Thursday, the biggest setback for Spurs this week was that goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario underwent surgery for a fracture in his ankle and will be out for several weeks.

Roma: Whatever the opposite of going from strength to strength is, Roma seem to have discovered it this season. They are now working with their third manager of the season, luring Claudio Ranieri out of retirement and welcoming him back during the international break. He has not been able to correct course just yet, losing over the weekend to league leaders Napoli, but he does have a pretty big job ahead of him.

Roma have just three wins in 13 Serie A Games this season and rank 12th in their domestic league while picking up just one win in four Europa League Games and rank 20th in that comPetition. They are still very much in the mix to advance to the next round of the Europa League but will need to start picking up points somewhere with just four Games left. Spurs are not the only high-caliber team left to face either – Games against fourth-place Eintracht Frankfurt and 17th-ranked AZ Alkmaar could also pose some challenges.

Roma have been defensively solid in Europe with just three goals against, though the fact that they've conceded 18 goals in Serie A action suggests there's room for improvement in that category. They will want to work on their goalscoring, though – they have scored just three goals in four Europa League Games so far.

Projected lineup

Tottenham Hotspur: Forster, Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray, Bergvall, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Johnson, Lankshear, Son

Roma: Svilar, Celik, Mancini, Ndicka, Angelino, El Shaarawy, Kone, Cristante, Pisilli, Pellegrini, Dovbyk

Prediction

It's hard to know what to expect from Roma as they enter yet another period of transition, but Spurs' knowledge of their own system gives the hosts the edge. Expect Postecoglou's side to come out on top, though not necessarily with a clean sheet. Pick: Tottenham Hotspur 2, Roma 1