Steaua – Targu Mures

Second placed Steaua Bucharest and sixth placed ASA Targu Mures will square off at National Arena in the 5th round of the Romanian Liga 1 playoffs.

Steaua is in pretty good form lately, managing to bounce back after a poor start to 2016. The hosts are coming after 4 consecutive wins in all competitions, allowing a single goal. Steaua is the best team in the country quality wise, but they are 3 points behind league leaders Astra Giurgiu, so a win is mandatory today – especially as this is the most accessible game for Steaua in the playoffs. This will be the first game in Bucharest for Steaua after they previously played their home matches in Pitesti in 2016, so that will definitely be a boost.

ASA Targu Mures is the worst team in the playoffs and seem doomed to finish 6th. They have 2 draws and 2 wins so far in the Championship Group, but lost both away matches. Targu Mures is by far the most defensive team in Romania and their stats are almost hard to believe. In 2016 they played 8 matches, with the following results: 0-1, 0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-2, 0-0, 0-1, 1-1. Just two goals scored in 8 games, both by the same player, both via shots from distance facilitated by huge mistakes made by the opposition.

Bet on Steaua Buc vs. Targu Mures with the highest football odds at 1xbet.com now!

Team news & lineups:

Steaua will miss its No.1 and No.2 strikers, Marica and Chipciu. ASA Targu Mures will also miss 2 of its star forwards, Mutu (ex Chelsea) and Jazvic. N’Doye, Velayos, Borza and Balic are also out for the visitors. Mutu does have a chance to play but will almost surely miss out.

Steaua Bucharest: Nita – Enache, Tamas, Tosca, Momcilovic – Bourceanu, Pintilii – Popa, Stanciu, Hamroun – Bawab

ASA Tg Mures: Stancioiu – Matei, Constantin, Gonzalez, Brandan – Muresan, Gorobsov – Dedov, Voiculet, Bus – Tucudean

The fact that Targu Mures has a goal difference of 2-6 in 8 matches played in 2016 says it all about this team. They simply have no game plan up front and with a few key forwards missing, it`s unlikely they can score against a team like Steaua, on the road. The hosts are in good form, have superior quality and are also defending very well lately.

The H2H results between Steaua and Targu Mures also suggest a low scoring game. 9 of the last 10 meetings saw under 2,5 goals, including the last five. Matches between the two sides have always been tense, slow and low scoring.

I can’t see Targu Mures scoring here, but Steaua is also unlikely to score more than once or twice against a team that knows how to crowd the box and doesn’t allow too many chances for opponents. Steaua scored more than 2 goals just once in 9 matches in 2016, so they are not exactly a great attacking team either. Missing their two main strikers will also cost them and given the huge importance of the match, I doubt they will keep going forward with conviction once / if they get the first goal.

I can see a tight, relatively close game with Steaua eventually getting a goal at some point and maybe adding another in the final stages of the match.

Targu Mures not to score is priced as a laughable 1.40, so my tip here is under 2.5 goals, a bet which holds much better odds. Everything screams that this will be a low scoring game and hopefully nothing out of the ordinary will happen. 8-9 units is my recommended stake on the bet. Prediction: Steaua Bucharest – ASA Targu Mures 2-0.

Pick: under 2,5 goals
Odds: 1.80 @ 1xBet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 7.20
Event date: 3 April