Dinamo – Steaua

The last match of the year in Romania will see arch rivals Dinamo Bucharest and Steaua Bucharest square off on Thursday in the first leg of the Romanian League Cup semifinals. Just a few weeks ago Dinamo won 3-1 at the same venue, in the Liga 1.

Dinamo is on the back of a 1-3 loss against CSMS Iasi, a disappointing result after Dinamo previously won 3 out of 4 matches in all competitions. It was another horrible defensive performance for Dinamo, who now allowed one or more goals in 22 of the 25 matches played this season.

Steaua had a poor first part of the season, considering the fact that they are by far the richest club in Romania right now and made a lot of investments in the Summer. They were expected to cruise, but they are barely staying Top 3 in the league and are out from the Romanian Cup.

Bet on Dinamo vs. Steaua and claim your 100% (100 Eur) free bet at Ohmbet now!

Even before the season began, I advocated that Andone’s appointment as Dinamo manager will mean the Red Dogs will be involved in high scoring matches. I have to keep repeating that. Andone is an offensive minded coach that has no clue about organizing a defense and on top of that, he has a bunch of disastrous players in defense at Dinamo, so there was never going to be a chance for Dinamo to defend well. Up front, they have talent and Andone knows how to create offense.

The stats (all competitions taken into account) speak for themselves:

• 19 out of 25 Dinamo matches ended with both teams scoring
• 18 out of 25 Dinamo matches ended with over 2,5 goals (average odds around evens)
• Dinamo kept just 3 clean sheets in 25 matches
• Dinamo won 3-1 at home against Steaua in the previous meeting this season
• The last 5 H2H meetings between Dinamo and Steaua saw both teams scoring

Again, the bookmakers are seemingly blind when it comes to Dinamo’s defense and are providing great odds for over 2,5 goals or for both teams to score. No later than a few days ago they put on odds of 2.40 on the over at Iasi – Dinamo, which unsurprisingly finished 3-1.

Yes, this is a derby match and Steaua struggles big time offensively, but that simply has no impact as far as Dinamo is concerned. They score and concede against everybody in virtually every match, regardless of the quality and playing style of the opposition.

I`ll bet on goals again in a Dinamo match, a choice that has paid off and will continue to pay off big time this season, even if not all these bets will be winners.

The question here is whether to bet on the over or on both teams to score. The second options seems safer, especially given the recent H2H record, the derby factor and the fact that it`s an evenly matched clash. Odds are higher for the over, but not that much higher. My tip is both teams to score. Prediction: Dinamo Bucharest – Steaua Bucharest 2-1.

Pick: Both to score
Odds: 1.98 @ Unibet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.84
Event date: 22 December