ROMANIAN LEAGUE BETTING PICK - STEAUA BUCURESTI V FC TIMISOARA

Romanian League

2010-04-25 - Steaua Bucuresti vs FC Timisoara

A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt

Steaua Bucuresti v FC Timisoara
Football : Romania : Liga 1
“Ghencea” stadium, Bucharest
Sunday 25 April 2010, Kickoff time: 20:30 GMT+2

---

Steaua Bucuresti (2nd) W-15 D-7 L-6 38-29

Steaua just suffered the most severe defeat in history against their rivals, Rapid Bucuresti, final score was 5-1. They were humiliated in the first half, when Rapid was leading with 4-0 after only 33 minutes.

Against teams that are fighting for the top places, Steaua only won 2 games ( Vaslui and Timisoara) from 10 played so far. In an unofficial table considering matches played between top 7 teams, Steaua is only 6th with 2 victories 4 draws and 4 defeats and a negative goal difference of 6.

With 6 games left to play any other result than a win here would practically mean losing the championship, momentarily Steaua is 4 points behind leader CFR Cluj, so in the case they won’t win against Timisoara the difference will raise to at least 6 points. It’s almost impossible for CFR to lose more than 2 games from the last five and Steaua to win all. (In case of equality CFR will win due to better h2h record).

Coach Mihai Stoichita is expected to make some changes in the first 11 after the disappointing performance against Rapid, so GK Zapata will replace Tatarusanu, left-back Emeghara will be replaced by Karamyan and finally central-midfielder Plesan will probably start the match from the first minute. Janos Szekely, Bicfalvi and Toja are all injured.

Steaua Bucuresti Line-up: 4-4-2
Zapata
P.Marin, Parpas, Jelev, Karamyan
Nicolita, Ov. Petre, Plesan, Tanase
Stancu, Kapetanos

Steaua Bucuresti last 5 home results :
12.04.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 27 Steaua Bucuresti 2-1 Poli Iasi
02.04.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 25 Steaua Bucuresti 1-0 FC Brasov
21.03.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 23 Steaua Bucuresti 2-0 Gaz Metan Medias
12.03.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 21 Steaua Bucuresti 1-0 Otelul Galati
20.02.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 18 Steaua Bucuresti 1-3 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt

FC Timisoara (3rd) W-13 D-12 L-3 47-18

Timisoara is coming after a dramatic clash against CFR Cluj, the visitors took the lead in the beginning of the second half but their goalkeeper got eliminated in the 88 minute, so central-defender Cadu had to take his place.

On a record 7 minute added-time Timisoara managed to equalize in the 97th minute after a header from a corner. It was no surprise however, because in 28 stages Timisoara scored 13 goals after the 80th minute of the games.

Timisoara is the team with the most goals scored and the best goal difference from the league, with 47 goals scored and only 18 conceded, which makes them the second best defence.
They are also first in the table considering away games, with a record of 6W-7D-1L (26-13).

Despite these stats, their recent form is quite bad, not winning any of their last 3 games. Their situation is similar to Steaua’s, any other result than a win would leave them without any real chance for winning the championship. However if they won’t lose than they will be very close to their second consecutive finish on the 2nd place of the championship, which would allow them to play CL qualifiers.

Timisoara doesn’t have major squad problem, the only important player who will miss this game is central-midfielder Dan Alexa.

FC Timisoara Line-up: 4-1-3-2
Taborda
Bonfim, Cisovsky, Nibombe, Sepsi
Bourceanu
Contra, Cocis, Curtean
Goga, Magera

Timisoara last 5 away results :
11.04.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 27 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt 1-1 FC Timisoara
03.04.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 25 U Craiova 1-2 FC Timisoara
22.03.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 23 Astra Ploiesti 1-3 FC Timisoara
05.03.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 20 Rapid Bucuresti 0-3 FC Timisoara
20.02.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 18 Gloria Bistrita 0-0 FC Timisoara

The Betting Verdict :

Steaua won their previous 4 games at home, but the victories weren’t convincing at all and they were against middle-table opponents.

Now they are facing a solid team, with title ambitions and I think this will be the end for their hopes in winning the title this year.

Both teams are playing their last card, so a draw would only help CFR Cluj.

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Side bets :
Timisoara to score at 1.40 Unibet
Timisoara to win at 3.46 Pinnacle
Over 2.5 Goals at 2.40 Bet365