FC Timisoara v Ceahlaul Piatra-Neamt
Football: Romanian Cup, Round of 32
Venue: "Dan Paltinisanu", Timisoara
Wednesday 21th September - Kickoff time: 17:00 GMT+2

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FC Timisoara (Liga 2)

Despite finishing second in the previous season of Liga 1, Timisoara was relegated because some financial issues, I won’t go into details, but the bottom point is that they are now playing in Liga 2 and lost some important players trough the process.

I consider that the level from the Romanian second league is quite modest, so it shouldn’t be too hard for Timisoara to obtain the promotion at the end of the season, they still have some quality players left in their squad.

Timisoara qualified to this stage of the Romanian Cup after a match against Resita, but despite playing a poor opposition, they needed a penalty shootout to eliminate them.

Coach Valentin Velcea declared that he will use the best possible lineup and that the Romanian Cup is an important objective for Timisoara in this season needing to prove that they are still better than most Liga 1 teams.

Ceahlaul Piatra-Neamt (Liga 1)

Ceahlaul will make their debut in the competition against FC Timisoara, probably a team that they would have preferred to avoid. Ceahlaul will want to repeat their performance from the previous Liga 1 game, when they managed to win their second away game this season.

Ceahlaul is having a decent start in Liga 1 considering the fact that they are a newly-promoted team, they currently sit on the 11th place, a single position below champions Otelul Galati.

Coach Costel Enache stated that despite playing a Liga 2 opponent, Timisoara can still be considered the favorite to win this match, but they will travel there to qualify.

The betting verdict

I think for a newly-promoted their main objective should be to avoid relegation, I don’t think there is any way Ceahlaul could reach the final. On the other side, Timisoara could concentrate on this competition as well, mainly because they are too strong for the opposition in Liga 2, where they shouldn’t have major difficulties to promote.

Timisoara also has the home advantage even though I don’t think there will be more than 5000 spectators, fans are still angry with the way things turned out at the end of the previous season, with their team relegating.

The home side has a decent record in this competition, they’ve won the cup two times and qualified for the final 3 years ago losing to CFR Cluj.

Despite losing some important players, I think Timisoara would still be in the top half of the table if they were playing in the first league, so a home win in this game would not surprise anyone.

The Pick :

FC Timisoara 2-1 Ceahlaul Piatra-Neamt

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Timisoara to win at 2.30 Bet365
Confidence: 7/10