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Steaua Bucharest and Villarreal will square off in the Europa League group stage second round. The hosts lost their first match against Osmanlispor, while Villarreal defeated Zurich.
Steaua is in a bit of a crisis right now, at least in terms of the level of football. They do win most of their matches in Romania and are leading the league, but they barely get those wins against some very, very poor teams. Steaua is not impressive in a weak league and when they play in Europe, they are suffering. Steua lost 0-2 against Osmanlispor in the first round – though they did have a men sent off at 0-0 in the 45th minute.
Villarreal is in great shape right now. After losing to Monaco in the UCL qualifiers, Villarreal went on to record 4 wins and 2 draws in the next 6 games. The draws were against Sevilla and Real Madrid and Villarreal is on the back of a 3-1 home win over Osasuna. The visitors should have no problem winning this weak group (2-1 vs Zurich in the 1st round) and as a result Villarreal is expected to rest a few players for this match. The coach said it himself actually, stating that he will give a chance to a few guys who didn’t play much this season.
Bet on Villarreal vs. Steaua and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet now!Team news & lineups:
Steaua will play without Pintilii, Aganovic and Filip. Villarreal is expected to rotate the squad and players like Pato, Asenjo or Sansone could be rested. Soldado is definitely out.
Steaua Bucharest: Nita – Tamas, Mitrea, Tosca, Momcilovic – Moke, Bourceanu – Popa, Boldrin, De Amorim – Tanase
Villarreal: Fernandez – Rukavina, Bonera, Gonzalez, Angel – Dos Santos, N’Diaye, Soriano, Cheryshev – Bakambu, Borre
Steaua is by far the weaker team here and they are not in good form, but I believe they can frustrate Villarreal. The hosts will be the more motivated side and will do everything in their power to avoid losing, while Villarreal will rest some players and won’t put that much focus on the match. Sure, they will want to win, but will probably be satisfied with a draw as well.
Villarreal is not the kind of team to blow you off the field, their style of football is a bit on the slow side and if they are not 100% focused, it will be difficult to break down a desperate, motivated opponent – especially with Villarreal possibly starting with their 4th and 5th choice strikers. And, after all, Steaua remains a decent team.
I was initially thinking to bet Steaua or draw here, but I doubt the hosts have the strength to win this game. Their coach, Reghecampf said himself that “a draw would be great” and I`m sure Villarreal won’t mind such a result either. As such, I think the best option is to back a tie game with lower stakes.
I expect a slow game and my tip is a draw – though the under also looks pretty decent at odds of about 1.65. Prediction: Steaua Bucharest – Villarreal 0-0.
Pick: Draw
Odds: 3.41 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 4
Possible profit: 9.64
Event date: 29 September
