Unirea Urziceni v Liverpool
Europa League - Round of 32 - 2nd leg
Stadium: Ghencea, Bucharest
25th February 2010 - Kickoff 20:00 GMT +2

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Unirea Urziceni (Romania)

Unirea had never competed in Europe before last term but entered the UEFA Europa League after a creditable third-placed finish in their first UEFA Champions League group stage campaign. The Romanian titleholders frustrated Liverpool for 81 minutes of the teams' round of 32 first-leg tie at Anfield before succumbing to a David Ngog header.

They blamed the physical and mental effort after this match as they couldn’t avoid their first loss at home since October, against championship leader CFR Cluj. This is just the third game they lost in two years in the championship at home.

However due to Uefa regulations the game against Liverpool will be played at "Ghencea" (the stadium of Steaua Bucharest), as it happened in CL group stage. It won’t be full and the spectators that will attend will probably go to see Liverpool, because Unirea doesn’t have many supporters, especially in Bucharest.

Unirea Urziceni Squad : (4-4-2)
Arlauskis
Maftei, Galamaz, Fernandes, Bordeanu
Pădureţu, S. Paraschiv, I. Apostol, S. Frunză
Onofraş, Bilaşco

Pablo Brandan, one of the best players for Unirea Urziceni is suspended.

Last 5 home results in Europe :
24/11/2009 Unirea Urziceni 1-0 Sevilla
04/11/2009 Unirea Urziceni 1-1 Rangers
29/09/2009 Unirea Urziceni 1-1 VfB Stuttgart
02/10/2008 Unirea Urziceni 0-2 Hamburg

Liverpool (England)

Coming after a difficult domestic league match against Manchester City at Eastlands, in a game that didn’t had a lot to offer, both teams seemed happy to obtain 1 point.

The match counting for a qualifying spot in the UCL was more like an encouragement that they could be overhauled for the clubs chasing City and Liverpool for a top-four spot.

The facts that should worry Unirea after seeing this match would be the return of Fernando Torres, who made a 15 minutes appearance as a substitute after a knee injury and Yossi Benayoun who was also coming back after an injury replaced Maxi Rodriguez in the second half.

Even if Liverpool are only 6th in Premier League, the Reds still remain the favorite for this encounter. In the first match Liverpool struggled with Unirea’s overcrowded defence, suffering from lack of creativity in front, but they still had the best chances to score, which can be simply explained by the fact that Unirea had none.

This situation is likely to change because Urziceni won’t have anything to defend so they will have to risk, which means more space for Liverpool’s forwards.

Liverpool Squad :
Reina
Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, F. Aurelio
Aquilani, Mascherano
Kuyt, Gerrard, Riera
N'Gog

There are no suspended players. Benitez is expected to restrict Torres to a bench role for this match.

Last 5 away results in Europe :
24/11/2009 Debrecen 0-1 Liverpool
04/11/2009 O. Lyon 1-1 Liverpool
29/09/2009 Fiorentina 2-0 Liverpool
14/04/2009 Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool
25/02/2009 Real Madrid 0-1 Liverpool

Head to Head

While Unirea had never faced English opposition prior to the first leg, this will be the 11th time Liverpool have met a Romanian team.

Ominously for the hosts, the Reds have lost just one of their ten games against sides from Romania in UEFA's club competitions – a 3-1 defeat at FC Petrolul Ploiesti in the 1966/67 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round.

Liverpool's overall record reads W7 D2 L1 (W3 D1 L1 in Romania).

The Betting Verdict :

Despite the fact that Unirea performed well at home in the group stage, two draws and a lucky victory over Sevilla (own-goal by Dragutinovic) this is knock-out stage and Unirea need a two goal win or at least a 1-0.

Having more European experience I am expecting Liverpool to take advantage of their opportunities because if they score a goal it’s all over. Things can only get complicated for them if Unirea score first, which is unlikely.

Even if Liverpool needs only a draw or even a defeat with goal scored I don’t see Unirea being capable to score.

The Pick :

Unirea Urziceni 0-2 Liverpool

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Liverpool to win