Universitatea Cluj vs Brasov
Football: Romanian Liga 1
Venue: "Cluj Arena", Cluj
Sunday 16th October - Kickoff time: 19:00 GMT+2

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Universitatea Cluj (4th W-5 D-3 L-1)

At the beginning of this week took place a historical moment for this club and Cluj in general, Universitatea returned home to their newly built, 30000 seats stadium, after several months of exile when they had to play in Medias or Alba-Iulia.

The spectacle was shadowed by the result against of the friendly match against Russian premier league team Kuban Krasnodar (0-4), but that is less important. However, if I have to judge this game considering what I saw Tuesday, than I have to say that Universitatea’s defense was all over the place and they should concede at least two goals from every Liga 1 team, but I put that on relaxation and lack of focus, after all it was more about the stadium and fans, the result was not that important.

Universitatea could have had a perfect home record, even though they were not actually playing home, the only draw came after a game against bottom placed Concordia Chiajna. I still can’t believe they missed the victory in that one, “U” had lots of opportunities to extend their early lead, but Concordia scored a late equalizer at one of their rare attempts on target and denied them the victory.

Brazilian striker Machado is suspended, but with his exception, Ionut Badea can use his full squad including midfielder Adrian Cristea who returned from the national team.

Univeristatea’s home form:

24.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 8 U Cluj 1 - 0 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt
11.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 6 U Cluj 1 - 1 Concordia Chiajna
20.08.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 4 U Cluj 3 - 2 Petrolul Ploiesti
30.07.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 2 U Cluj 2 - 0 Rapid

Brasov

Brasov is passing through a poor period if we look at their results and there is already pressure on coach Daniel Isaila who may be forced to step down if there won’t be improvement.

They were unable to win any of their last two games which wouldn’t be such a problem for a team that only wants to be in the top half of the table at the end of the season, but they were unable to win against two newly promoted teams.

Brasov even lost in the away game against bottom placed Concordia Chiajna, which earned the newly-promoted their only victory in ten games! This result was followed by another poor performance against Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt at home, the match finishing 1-1.

There are two teams in the Romanian league that only managed to collect one points from their away games and Brasov is one of them, paradoxically their only point was earned against one of the best teams from the league, Rapid.

Brasov’s away form:

23.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 8 Concordia Chiajna 2 - 1 FC Brasov
10.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 6 Rapid 1 - 1 FC Brasov
20.08.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 4 Otelul Galati 1 - 0 FC Brasov
01.08.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 2 Pandurii Tg. Jiu 2 - 1 FC Brasov

The betting verdict

Universitatea has a lot to make up after disappointing their supporters at Cluj Arena’s opening match, but once again that was only a friendly match. I considered Universitatea to be a strong side when playing at home even when they were not playing in Cluj, but now with the support of their fans I cannot see which team from the league could get away with all three points from this stadium.

On the other hand, Brasov was disappointing in their travels, despite losing all games with just one goal difference. The stats are not on their side either, the last time Brasov won in Cluj was back in 1969.

I found the prices for a home win a bit short, Brasov has the potential to cause an upset (a draw) even though it’s unlikely if they keep playing as they did lately. I was disappointed by Universitatea’s defense lately, central defenders Abrudan and Szukala are quite slow, so Brasov might find the goal at least once under these conditions. However, I think Universitatea has the quality to score as many times as it’s needed to secure their first win on their new stadium.

The Pick :

Universitatea Cluj 2-1 Brasov

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Universitatea to win at 1.73 Ladbrokes
Confidence: 8/10

Try Over 2.5 goals to be scored at 2.2 Pinnacle
Confidence: 7/10