Botosani – Tskhinvali

Botosani Tskhinvali Europa League tipsThe Europa League is upon us again and the first qualifying round will see two debutant teams square off, as neither FC Botosani or FC Spartaki Tskhinvali played in Europe before.

Botosani finished on the 8th place last season in Romania. They qualified for the Europa League only because many Romanian teams are ineligible to participate due to financial problems. Playing in Europe represents a real achievement for a team like Botosani, but it doesn`t really seem like it right now – the owner said that it costs too much to play in Europa League and now the coach stated that his team is not 100% prepared to face Tskhinvali. This is not a surprising statement however, as Botosani basically changed the whole squad in the summer, bringing in over 10 players and selling / releasing even more. Chemistry will surely be an issue for the hosts.

The visitors ended up in 4th place last season and represent a similar team to Botosani, though they have less quality. Tskhinvali will also play its first European match and they will look to build on last season’s success. The Georgians are a small, rugged team, composed almost exclusively from domestic players.

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Team news & lineups
: Reports about the visitors are hard to get, but FC Botosani has some problems ahead of this match. Ngadeu, Danci and Fulop are injured (a serious handicap), while 9 other players haven`t been included in the UEFA Cup squad, some of them being surprising absentees. The hosts could line up in the following way:

FC Botosani
: Iliev – Patache, Cordoş, Plămadă, Acsinte – Cucu – Martinus, Vașvari, Croitoru, Batin – Hadnagy

The home side is really as ordinary as you can get and I believe they could have some problems against the Georgians, even though Tskhinvali is anything but a scary opponent. The visitors will come here to defend a draw, fighting for every ball and they might well frustrate a Botosani side that lacks chemistry, lacks quality and clearly isn’t ready for the new season.

Additionally, the Romanians are a defensive side that usually plays for 1-0 wins or 0-0 draws, so they don`t exactly have the firepower (or the will) to score in bunches. My tip is Tskhinvali to cover the 1,5 goal handicap, I see this bet as having some good value – Botosani simply can’t be priced at 1.30 to win in the Europa League (actyually nowhere) against any decent side. Keeping the stakes under control though, as there are still unknowns at such an early stage in the competition. Prediction: FC Botosani – FC Tskhinvali 1-0.

Pick: Tskhinvali +1,5
Odds: 1.76 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 6
Possible profit: 4.56
Event date: 2 July

About Rostick

Born in '88. Running betting tips websites since 2007. Launched Betdistrict in 2013. Worked as a bookie for a year to spy on the other side. Rugby Union and NBA expert. Editor info & statistics.

One comment

  1. i think this is a tricky game, the 1.5 line is a coin toss, after all, but if i were to play something, i would go with Botosani.

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