Vaslui vs FCM Targu Mures
Football: Romanian Liga 1
Venue: "Municipal", Vaslui
Sunday 30th October - Kickoff time: 18:30 GMT+2

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FC Vaslui (8th W-5 D-2 L-4)

Vaslui qualified for the quarterfinals of the Romanian Cup after eliminating Dunarea Galati, a second league team. Viorel Hizo decided to use players that haven’t had many chances to play in the beginning of the season, but it turned out to be an uninspired decision, because Dunarea broke the deadlock. After bringing in the big guns, Vaslui managed to score 4 goals.

Following their 1-0 loss from their travel to Ploiesti, Vaslui ended up in the 8th place, which is quite disappointing for a club with probably the most consistent budget from the league. The problem is, as Viorel Hizo stated several times, that the substitutes do not have the same qualities as his regulars, so he is forced to play with almost the same 11 every game.

Brazilian striker Gerlem suffered an injury and he’ll be out for at least a month. Vaslui’s captain, Brazilian Wesley Lopes received a 4 match ban for Europa League, so he is expected to at least be decisive in the domestic league if he cannot help his team in Europe. Wesley already scored 7 goals this season.

Vaslui's home form:

16.10.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 10 FC Vaslui 0 - 0 Steaua
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

FCM Targu Mures (15th W-1 D-5 L-5)

FCM is in a difficult position, being one of the club’s that already changed their coach this season, a change that didn’t seemed to turn things around, Targu Mures is still in the red zone, with only 8 points collected.

The last time FCM won a game was back in August, when they managed to defeat newly-promoted Mioveni at home. That was actually their only victory this season, which makes them one of the three teams that have only registered one win this season.

Coach Tibor Selymes will be unable to use Szilagyi and Celsinho both being suspended, while Vasilache, Astafei and Ghionea are all injured.

15.10.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 10 Sportul Studentesc 1 - 1 FCM Târgu-Mureş
26.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 8 Gaz Metan Medias 2 - 1 FCM Târgu-Mureş
28.08.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 5 Steaua 2 - 0 FCM Târgu-Mureş
15.08.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 3 Vointa Sibiu 1 - 1 FCM Târgu-Mureş
22.07.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 1 Dinamo 1 - 0 FCM Târgu-Mureş

The betting verdict

There is a lot of pressure on both teams, Vaslui announced at the beginning of the season that their objective is to win the title, but there is already a 10 points gap between them and Dinamo, so they’ll have to start winning some games in order to keep chances.

FCM on the other hand have not imagined that they will end up in a position like this, they finished the previous season 15 points above the relegation season and nothing really announced their decline. They do have some decent players in their squad by Liga 1 standards, so I imagine it won’t be easy for Vaslui to keep all points.

Vaslui is quite inconsistent when playing at home, they were not able to defeat newly promoted teams like Petrolul or Ceahlaul, but beat the leader, Dinamo Bucuresti. Three out of five Vaslui home games ended with less than 3 goals scored, while only one away game played by Targu Mures ended with at least 3 goals.

The odds for under 2.5 are more than generous, but that is mainly because there’s been unexpectedly many goals in the beginning of the season, 42% of the games ending with at least 3 goals scored. The percentage is more than it used to be in the previous seasons, but eventually it will get back to normal. However, until then, I think there is value backing it at evens.

The Pick :

Vaslui 1-0 Targu Mures

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Under 2.5 goals to be scored at 2.00 Paddy Power
Confidence: 7/10