Hungary – Romania

Hungary will try to finally get a win over arch rivals Romania, having failed to do so for the last 9 matches and 34 years. However, it will not be easy, as the visitors are topping the Euro 2016 qualifying Group F with 14 points in 6 games – 1 point over Northern Ireland and 3 points over Hungary.

Hungary enters this match with a new manager, after Pal Dardai was forced to relinquish his position by his club Hertha (he was coaching both Hertha and Hungary). The hosts did not play well at all in this Group, but they benefited from Greece’s disastrous campaign and the fact that this is the weakest qualifying group. As such, they are third in the standings and will almost surely at least make the playoffs, maybe even qualify directly. They can`t lose the third place, but will surely try to finish Top 2. Last time out, Hungary managed an important 1-0 win in Finland.

Romania has 4 wins and 2 draws in 6 matches, they have been the best team in this group so far. The level of football wasn`t fantastic and the individual quality in the team is not excellent, but the Romanians have a reliable defense and are overall well organized – at least better than the other teams in this Group. In the last match Romania finished 0-0 in Northern Ireland, probably their worst match of the campaign, but the result was pretty good and kept them at the top of the standings.

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Team news & lineups:

Both managers called up the best available players. Marica from Romania can be considered a miss, he is normally the main striker, but he hasn`t played any football in quite a while.

Hungary: Király – Fiola, Lang, Juhász, Kádár – Stieber, Priskin, Tőzsér, Dzsudzsák, Gera – Szalai

Romania: Tătăruşanu – Papp, Chiricheş, Goian, Raţ – Hoban, Prepeliță – Popa, Sânmărtean, Torje – Keserü

There is everything to play for here, but most of all nobody can afford to lose. If Hungary loses, their dreams for a Top 2 finish will probably be shattered. For Romania, it would mean turning an almost guaranteed qualification into a dogfight, potentially sending them to the playoffs.

Even if Romania does not have too much quality, they still have more than Hungary. It could be easily seen in the first leg where, despite a 1-1 result, Romania was by far the superior team and was very unlucky not to win. The visitors are deserving favorites, but Hungary plays at home and that will make an important difference in this rivalry clash. Overall the meeting seems evenly matched and considering the fact that nobody can afford to lose, a draw seems like the normal result – a result that will surely satisfy both sides. However, I will take an insurance in case the Romanians manage to edge this.

My tip is Draw Romania no bet (meaning we win with a draw, get our stakes returned in case of a Romania win and obviously we lose in case of a Hungary win that I really can not envision happening). Prediction: Hungary – Romania 1-1.

Pick:Draw – Romania win no bet
Odds: 1.90 @ Bwin
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 8.10
Event date: 4 September