Romanian League
2011-10-30 - Petrolul Ploiesti vs Steaua Bucuresti
A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt
Football: Romanian Liga 1
Venue: "Ilie Oana", Ploiesti
Sunday 30th October - Kickoff time: 21:30 GMT+2
Petrolul (12th W-3 D-3 L-5)
Petrolul is coming after an important victory in the Romanian Cup against local rivals Astra Ploiesti, a match that was decided by a goal scored by Buhus.
As coach Valeriu Rachita pointed out, Petrolul is 11th at the moment and that makes them the best newly promoted team so far. However, I would say that if they will avoid relegation, they should thank others like Concordia, Mioveni or Sportul, teams that could not rise to the level of this competition and will probably relegate.
Petrolul just moved to a newly built stadium, but the celebration at their first match on “Ilie Oana” was ruined by Dinamo Bucuresti, the leaders showing no mercy in a match that ended 1-5.
The last time Steaua won a game here was back in 1998, since then Petrolul obtained two victories and three games ended in draws.
Tickets have been sold out, despite their decline, Steaua still attracts supporters from all around the country.
Petrolul’s home form:
15.10.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 10 Petrolul Ploiesti 4 - 1 Vointa Sibiu
25.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 8 Petrolul Ploiesti 1 - 5 Dinamo
12.09.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 6 Petrolul Ploiesti 0 - 1 Ceahlaul
13.08.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 3 Petrolul Ploiesti 0 - 1 Rapid
25.07.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 1 Petrolul Ploiesti 2 - 1 Otelul Galati
Steaua Bucuresti (9th W-4 D-4 L-3)
I will start by saying that Steaua is currently 9th, eleven points behind Dinamo Bucuresti and there are no signs that they could get back in the fight for a top position. They have played against Vaslui and Rapid in their previous games, both ending without goals.
Their new coach, Ilie Stan doesn’t seem capable to handle the pressure around a big club like this, at least their name remained important, because their performances were modest lately. Ilie Stan was given an ultimatum, so if Steaua won’t win this game than they’ll appoint a third managed for this season.
The stats are not with him, because Steaua was not able to win any of their five away games, only scoring two goals. They are not doing any better in Europe either, the game in Larnaca against AEK ended in a draw and they were hammered by Maccabi Haifa in a game that ended 5-0.
The bad run continued in the Romanian Cup, where they were eliminated by a second league team, FC Timisoara, in a game that ended 2-0 for the hosts.
Steaua’s away form:
16.10.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 10 FC Vaslui 0 - 0 Steaua
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
To be honest, Petrolul haven’t impressed me in any of their games, it feels like they don’t have a style yet and most of their goals came after some individual efforts. However, 15 000 fans behind them and the lack of pressure may be the triggers that would determine them to pull off a positive result.
However, this pick is more about Steaua, when I saw the odds for an away win the first thing I had in mind is that I should back the opposition, whoever that may be. Steaua played 8 games on the road this season (including Europa League) and were not able to win any of them, despite playing against newly promoted Vointa Sibiu or Sportul Studentesc.
The Pick :
Petrolul Ploiesti 1-1 Steaua Bucuresti
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Petrolul +0.5 AH at 2.05 Pinnacle
Confidence: 7/10
Confidence: 7/10
