Otelul Galati vs Basel
Football: UCL group stage, Group C
Venue: National Arena, Bucharest
Tuesday 22th November – Kickoff time: 21:45 GMT+2

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Otelul Galati

Otelul Galati is searching for their first points in the UCL group stages and this match against Basel may seem the best opportunity to achieve that goal. Otelul was just a few minutes away from squeezing a draw in their previous encounter against Basel, being denied a point by a late penalty.

The Romanians haven’t suffered severe defeats, two losses by one goal margin and a double 0-2 against Manchester, but that is hardly a thing they could be proud of, being among the three teams that have yet to win a point in the group stages.

Despite these results in the CL, Otelul has got back to their winning ways in the Romanian league, registering their fourth consecutive win this weekend. They are now 6th on the table, still a significant difference between them and leaders Dinamo though, nine points.

Coach Dorinel Munteanu is talking about their first victory and chances to still reach the third spot, which I think it’s absurd considering that they have only once in four games and showed no offensive strength whatsoever.

Otelul will be without their captain, central back Sergiu Costin being suspended.

Probable Otelul line-up :

Grahovac
Rapa, Perendija, Sirghi, Salageanu
Giurgiu, I. Filip
Antal, Neagu, S. Frunza
Pena

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Basel

After seeing their poor form in matchday one against Otelul Galati, I thought that Basel won’t win any more points until this match, but they proved me wrong pulling off some impressive performances on their away games against Manchester United and Benfica. With 5 points until now they might even progress in a favorable turn of events, but for that they must win both remaining games.

Despite this being Basel’s fourth UCL group stage campaing, they have not reached the last 16 since their debut appearance nine years ago.

Basel don’t have pleasant memories from Romania, the last time they travelled here (last year) they lost the game against CFR Cluj after conceding two goals in the opening 12 minutes. However, later that year they managed to defeat As Roma at Olimpico. In fact, from their previous 5 UCL travels, Basel only failed to score against Bayern Munich.

Coach Heiko Vogel will not be able to use Valentin Stocker (knee ligaments), Gilles Yapi (same) and Kay Voser (ankle).

Probable Basel line-up :

Sommer
Steinhofer, Abraham, Dragovic, Joo Park
Shaqiri, Huggel, Xhaka, Zoua
Streller, Frei

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The Betting Verdict

Otelul showed that they could be tight in defense, but that hasn’t worked out so far, so I imagine they will go out and try to attack more in this game. This is probably their only chance to win a game in the UCL, who knows when they’ll have the opportunity to qualify again, probably not in the near future.

If that will be the case, Basel could take advantage of that and they already proved that they can do a lot of damage on counter attacks. Midfielder Shaqiri missed their first encounter, but he’ll start the game tonight and that may be a great plus for the Swiss, he brings a lot of quality in the midfield.

I’m quite sure Basel will score at least once tonight, they scored in both their travels against much tougher opponents, so I can’t see why they wouldn’t do the same against Otelul. The only question is how much will Otelul risk, will they try to bring more players in front or they’ll just keep on playing cautiously.

The match will be played on the National Arena, the stadium that will host this year’s Europa League final, but this venue is in Bucharest, not Galati.

Otelul can’t really count on the home advantage, on their first match against Benfica no more than 10 000 spectators came to the match, so considering the cold weather and the fact the Otelul has no points until now I am expecting one of the lowest attendances in a UCL group stage match ever.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Otelul Galati 1-2 Basel

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Basel to win at 1.85 at Paddy Power
Confidence: 7/10