Claudio Ranieri laughed off Roy Hodgson's suggestion that Roma are favourites to win the Europa League but history suggests the Italians will win against Fulham tonight. Ranieri brings his Roma side to Craven Cottage looking to maintain his unbeaten record against both the Fulham manager and his club.

During the mid-nineties, the two men squared up six times during Hodgson's time at Inter Milan and Udinese when Ranieri was coaching Fiorentina — and the Italian never lost.

The Fulham faithful will not need reminding, either, that between 2000-04 Ranieri's Chelsea went seven games unbeaten against their near neighbours in west London.

“There aren't many Chelsea managers who have been beaten by Fulham, you'd have to go back a long way,” said Hodgson.

Ranieri, who only took over at the Stadio Olimpico on 1 September as a replacement for Luciano Spalletti recognises, though, that form in Europe is with Fulham.

Hodgson's side top Group E with four points from two games, while a surprise defeat at Basel leaves Roma lying third out of four teams with three points. “The group is compact,” said Ranieri. “There is no clear team that can easily win this group. After we've played Fulham twice we'll have a better idea of where we stand.”

He is still seething over controversial refereeing decisions which cost his side a 2-1 defeat at Milan on Sunday, leaving Roma languishing 11th in Serie A. “We have to accept referees might get it wrong,” he said. “But I don't want my team to feel like a victim. I want them to feel like fighters against Fulham.”

Hodgson watched the Milan game and said: “They were very unlucky to lose. I thought they were the better team. They are extremely well organised and they've got some outstandingly good players.

“I suppose I might have wished that a lesser quality coach was in charge of the Roma team.”
Whatever the result, Hodgson will look forward to sharing a bottle of wine with Ranieri after the match. He said: “We were very friendly when I was at Inter and he was at Fiorentina. He's one of the coaches I had a good rapport with. English football is a very congenial sort of game. After matches it's very common for the coaching staff and the managers to meet up, discuss the game and a have a drink together.

“That wasn't the case in Italy, where you might shake hands with the other guy before and after the game and that was pretty much it.

“With Claudio, because we played Fiorentina so many times in a short period, we got to know each other better and over the years we've
formed some sort of empathy for each other.”

A sub-plot to the fixture could see Roma defender John Arne Riise line-up opposite younger brother Bjorn Helge, who has a good chance of making the Fulham team with midfielders Danny Murphy and Etuhu Dickson both out.

Bjorn Helge said: “I have never played against John. He called me as soon as he saw the draw for the Group stage. He told me he is going to smash me and I said I was going to smash him.

“Most of the time, when I was young, I had a short temper. Whenever my brother beat me at football he would cheer and sing, so I hit him and then tried to run because he was a lot bigger than me.

“Almost every time he would catch me and give me a thump but I still think it helped me develop my pace.”