Betdistrict.com
Astra Giurgiu will play host to Steaua Bucharest in a crucial Romania Liga 1 clash, counting for the 18th round of the regular season.
Astra won the league last season in front of Steaua, but lost half of that team over the summer break, 2 of their key guys actually joining Steaua. Astra was expected to collapse this season and indeed they are sitting on the 9th place in Liga 1, but they performed shockingly well in Europe, qualifying from an Europa League group with Roma, Plzen and Austria Wien, after previously knocking out West Ham. Astra just held Roma to a 0-0 draw in the final match of the group.
Steaua is on the back of a 1-2 loss at Villarreal, one of their best matches of the season. Still, the loss meant Steaua is now out of the Europa League and will have to focus on Liga 1, where they have been utterly disappointing this season. Despite making huge summer investments and facing a very poor level of opposition, Steaua failed to affirmed itself as the best team in the league and is currently second in the standings after Gaz Metan Medias won earlier this round.
Bet on Astra vs. Steaua Buc. and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet now!Team news & lineups:
Top scorer Alibec is out for Astra, a huge blow. The hosts will also miss Boudjema, Dandea and Fabricio. Steaua’s only new absentee is key midfielder Pintilii, but they have older injury problems as well.
Astra: Lung jr – Stan, Oros, Sapunaru, Morais – Lovin, Seto – Ionita II, Teixeira, Kortzorg – Budescu
Steaua: Nita – Popescu, Tamas, Tosca, Momcilovic – Moke, Bourceanu – Popa, Boldrin, De Amorim – Golubovic
Astra (who almost lost their manager before this game, but he wasn`t allowed to leave the club) will miss its best player and top goalscorer Alibec. He is set to join Steaua in the summer and will not play against his future team. It will be a big blow for Astra, as their entire offensive game is constructed around him. Steaua has struggled scoring goals this season, as they do not have a single proper striker. Their main (and currently only) option up front, Golubovic, is yet to score in Liga 1 this season.
This match is not a derby clash, but there is a very heated rivalry between the coaching staffs and the players of these two sides, which always resulted in tense, low scoring H2H matches. Steaua’s coach himself stated that this will be a physical affair.
- The stats show that the last 11 H2H matches (!!) saw only one team scoring. Only one of those matches saw over 2,5 goals. The last 9 meetings all finished 0-0, 1-0 or 2-0.
Of course, stats are never everything in betting and each match has its own story, but it`s hard to ignore the above mentioned numbers when odds for both teams NOT to score are as high as 1.83. And there are no circumstances suggesting the trend should change in this one. On one hand Astra badly needs to win this if they are to have any chance for the playoffs, on the other hand that might translate into an even bigger focus of not conceding a goal. It will definitely not mean an all out attack approach and there`s also the absence of Alibec.
All in all, I will choose to bet against goals in this match. My tip is both teams to score – NO. Prediction: Astra Giurgiu – Steaua Bucharest 0-0.
Pick: Both to score – NO
Odds: 1.83 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.64
Event date: 11 December
