Vaslui vs Steaua Bucuresti
Football: Romanian Liga 1
Venue: "Municipal", Vaslui
Sunday 16th October - Kickoff time: 21:30 GMT+2

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FC Vaslui (5th W-5 D-1 L-3)

Vaslui will be looking to maintain their solid home form against Steaua Bucuresti, having registered victories against the leader, Dinamo Bucuresti and Vointa Sibiu at their previous home games. It is an important week for Vaslui, after hosting Steaua they will travel to Portugal to face Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League.

Viorel Hizo’s team had a slow start, they already lost 3 games this season, but that is mainly because several squad issues combined with them being banned from making transfers, created a delicate situation in some games, when the coach had to use a 21 years old debutant in both championship and Europa League.

Central-back Paul Papp, midfielder Lucian Sanmartean, two important players that were unable to play in the beginning of the season are fit to play and that is starting to show off, but they still have some injured players like Canu, Pavlovic or Gerlem.

Brazilian striker Wesley is the man to watch, he already scored 7 goals in 9 championship games and 3 in Europa League and he will be assisted by quality midfielders like Sanmartean and Adailton, so I am expecting Vaslui to have the initiative in this match.

Vaslui’s home form:

25.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 8 FC Vaslui 2 - 0 Vointa Sibiu
11.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 6 FC Vaslui 3 - 1 Dinamo
21.08.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 4 FC Vaslui 1 - 2 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt
30.07.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 2 FC Vaslui 0 - 0 Petrolul Ploiesti

Steaua Bucuresti (8th W-4 D-2 L-3)

Vaslui was the favorite in their previous home game against Steaua as well, but in August 2010 the team from Bucharest managed to pull off a superb performance and won the match with 3-0. Unfortunately for Steaua, only two players who were present at that game will also appear now.

Steaua is once again having a poor season, but that is no longer a surprise. They did managed to qualify for the Europa League group stages and registered two draws against Shalke 04 and AEK Larnaca, but things are not looking good for them in the domestic league, where they already have an 8 points deficit behind Dinamo Bucuresti.

Steaua’s away form could be described as being awful, they were not able to win any of their 4 matches on the road and only scored two goals. From those teams that hosted Steaua this season, only Astra Ploiesti is placed in the top half of the table.

This weekend however their record may not be Steaua’s biggest problem, coach Ilie Stan will not be able to use half of their regulars for various reasons, so we’ll not see Romanian internationals Ciprian Tatarusanu, Florin Gardos and Cristian Tanase.

Central-backs Galamaz and Iliev are unavailable, so Argentine left-back Pablo Brandan will probably play in that position for the first time since he arrived at Steaua.

Steaua’s away form:

25.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 8 Sportul Studentesc 0 - 0 Steaua
10.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 6 Gaz Metan Medias 3 - 0 Steaua
21.08.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 4 Astra Ploiesti 2 - 1 Steaua
23.07.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 1 Vointa Sibiu 1 - 1 Steaua

The betting verdict

Two of Romania’s representatives in European competitions will meet in this match which has an obvious favorite and that is Vaslui. There are several reasons that could confirm that fact, most important would be Steaua’s rubbish form when playing away from home and Vaslui’s offensive strength.

As I said before, Vaslui will probably have the initiative and I have no doubt that they will crack Steaua’s improvised defense at least once, the question is if Steaua will or not be able to give a decent reply. I would have backed Vaslui even if Steaua could have used their best squad, but with so many absents I expect the hosts to have an easier job earning the three points.

The Pick :

Vaslui 1-0 Steaua Bucuresti

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Vaslui to win at 2.25 Ladbrokes
Confidence: 8/10