Pandurii Tg Jiu vs Ceahlaul
Football: Romanian Liga 1
Venue: "Tudor Vladimirescu", Tg Jiu
Sunday 18th November - Kickoff time: 16:00 GMT+2

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Pandurii (5th W-8 D-5 L-4)

After 17 stages Pandurii finds themselves in the 5th place, just above Steaua. For a team with a relatively small budget this season has been excellent and probably the main reason behind their good run is their coach, Petre Grigoras.

When Steaua’s coach was almost sacked a few stages ago, Grigoras was the favorite to replace him, which would be a great opportunity for him, as he never coached top teams in his career.

Grigoras made Pandurii the best home team this season, with seven victories and two defeats. Ironically, I wrote previews and backed them the only two times when they lost.

Cardoso is the man to watch, he managed to score three times on their previous home game against Concordia Chiajna and with 5 goals this season he is the top scorer of the team along Vranjes, who also scored 5.

Pandurii’s home form:

12.12.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 17 Pandurii Tg. Jiu 5 - 2 Concordia Chiajna
26.11.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 15 Pandurii Tg. Jiu 3 - 0 Rapid
06.11.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 13 Pandurii Tg. Jiu 0 - 1 Otelul Galati
21.10.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 11 Pandurii Tg. Jiu 1 - 0 U Cluj
17.10.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 10 Pandurii Tg. Jiu 1 - 0 Gaz Metan Medias

Ceahlaul (11th W-5 D-6 L-6)

There is not a lot of pressure on newly promoted Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt, with 21 points in the middle of the season (5 above the relegation zone) it seems like they have the quality to avoid relegation.

Despite not winning any of their last three games, Ceahlaul was difficult to beat this season on the road, they only lost three times in nine encounters.

Daniel Stana scored another fine goal (his 4th this season) on their previous travel to Medias, but that goal wasn’t enough and Ceahlaul lost against Gaz Metan with 3-1 after a nice comeback from the home side.

Midfielder Lucas Garcia suffered a muscle rupture and will be unavailable for at least two months.

Ceahlaul’s away form:

12.12.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 17 Gaz Metan 3 - 1 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt
25.11.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 15 Astra Ploiesti 0 - 0 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt
04.11.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 13 Dacia Mioveni 1 - 2 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt
22.10.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 11 CFR Cluj 2 - 1 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt
03.10.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 9 FC Brasov 1 - 1 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt

The betting verdict

Pandurii registered impressive stats on their previous home game, having a 68% possession against Concordia which eventually turned out helpful, Pandurii scoring 5 goals.

In the 15-30 minute interval, Pandurii had a 83% possession, with the guests only touched the ball 23 times, which shows that Pandurii can apply a lot of pressure when they need to score. However, these figures are not the most relevant, Concordia being a modest team.

Ceahlaul did well on the road, they’ve scored in 7 of their 9 games, but lost on their previous travel against Gaz Metan, a team that were not able to win any of their 5 games prior to that.

The Pick :

Pandurii Tg Jiu 2-1 Ceahlaul

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Pandurii to win at 1.62 Pinnacle
Confidence: 8/10

Try Both teams to score at 2.38 Bet365
Confidence: 5/10