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Pandurii Targu Jiu will start their European campaign with a match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, counting for the third round of the Europa League.
Pandurii finished 3rd last season in Romania and despite having financial problems that went so far as to threaten their existence, they seem even stronger this season. The hosts lost a couple of key players, but made some excellent signings and could have a shot of challenging for the title. Pandurii played the first official match of the season last weekend, beating Craiova 2-1 at home in a tight affair.
Maccabi Tel Aviv had a good season last year, finishing second in Israel just 2 points behind Beer Sheeva and many argued that Maccabi should have won that championship. They likely payed the price for playing tough matches in Europe, as they qualified for the Champions League, finishing 4th in a group with Chelsea, Porto and Dynamo Kiev. This season Maccabi played 4 matches so far, all in Europa League beating Gorica (3-0, 1-0) and Kairat (1-1, 2-1).
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Team news: Some of the new signings will not be available for Pandurii, so they should line up in a similar manner to how they did against Craiova. Maccabi is also expected to field pretty much the same first 11 which beat Kairat.
Maccabi is the better team and played some good football so far this season in Europa League because let me tell you, Kairat (which they beat 3-2 aggregate) is a really, really good team, I`d say a better team than Pandurii. However, the Romanians have their own qualities and are not an easy side to deal with.
Pandurii played a very cagey match in the first match of the season against a decent Craiova side. It was a game in which nobody took any risks and there was no action at all until the final minutes of the game, when 3 goals came out of nowhere and Pandurii won 2-1. I think the hosts will come in with the same approach today.
Both sides will be wary of the threat the opponent poses and I think the first 45 minutes will see the two sides playing it safe, trying to figure out eachother’s weaknesses. It`s an evenly matched clash anyway, so it makes sense to bet on a draw at half time here. That will be my tip, a HT draw to occur. Prediction: Pandurii Targu Jiu – Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-1 (0-0 half time).
Pick: Half time draw
Odds: 2.00 @ Unibet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 7
Event date: 28 July
