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The last round will decide qualification in a crazy Europa League L, where the 4 teams are separated by just 1 point. Osmanlispor leads the group with 7 points, while Villarreal, Steaua and Zurich each have 6.
After starting well with a routine 2-1 win over Zurich, things got out of control for Villarreal in this group. A mix of overconfidence, resting their best players and overall poor form have sent Villarreal to the last place in an easy group they should have dominated. The hosts are still huge favorites to advance. as they play at home against arguably the worst team in the group, but Villarreal’s recent poor form will not give them much confidence. The Yellow Submarine won just once in the last 5 games in all competitions – vs Toledo in Copa Del Rey.
Steaua is playing some really poor football this season, but somehow they are in a decent position before the end of the year. Barely leading the league in Romania is far from a success considering the very poor opposition there, but Steaua was definitely not expected to challenge for qualification in Europa League. It all seemed lost before last round and even more so at half time, when Steaua was trailing Osmanlispor 0-1 at home, but two individual executions, including a late goal, allowed Steaua to live to fight another day.
Bet on Villarreal vs. Steaua and get your 100% (100 €) welcome bonus at Ohmbet!Team news & lineups:
Soldado and Castillejo are out for Villarreal, while Bruno and Cheryshev are doubtful, but might play. The hosts could rest a few players again, but they are expected to field a much stronger side than they have so far in Europa League. Muniru, Tanase, Filip and Man are out for Steaua. Golubovic is injured, but it`s possible he might be forced despite not being fit, as all other Steaua strikers are ruled out.
Steaua Bucharest: Nita – Tamas, Moke, Tosca, Momcilovic – Bourceanu, Pintilii – Enache, Boldrin, De Amorim – Popa (Golubovic)
Villarreal: Asenjo – Rukavina, Musacchio, Ruiz, Costa – Dos Santos, Hernandez, Trigueros, Soriano – Pato, Bakambu (Sansone)
In the previous meeting in Bucharest, Villarreal rested a few key players, came for a draw and got it. They were sure they will qualify back then, but this kind of approach backfired in the other games. Now the hosts need to play to their full potential and win.
Steaua has huge problems up front as they don`t have a single valid striker in their squad and have struggled all season to score goals. I don`t see them posing an offensive threat to Villarreal. The question will be if Villarreal, in poor form, will be able to score goal(s) over the 90 minutes. I believe they will, especially since Steaua needs to win, so the Romanians will have to open up at some point. That should help Villarreal big time if they struggle offensively – but I think the Yellow Submarine would win even if Steaua would park the bus for the draw.
Both teams are in (very) poor form, but Villarreal is the far better team and has home court advantage. This time they will send the first team out (with a few exceptions), which they didn`t do so far in Europa League. All these should be more than enough for Villarreal to win rather comfortably. My tip is Villarreal to cover the -1 asian handicap. Prediction: Villarreal – Steaua Bucharest 2-0.
Pick: Villarreal (-1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.58 @ Slbet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 5.22
Event date: 8 December
