Armenia – Romania

Armenia and Romania square off in Group E of the 2018 World Cup qualifying tournaments, with the Romanians being in massive need of 3 points.

Armenia only lost 0-1 in Denmark in the first round, but that doesn`t say much considering that Denmark scored early, missed a penalty and was always in control. The Armenians had under 30% possession and virtually no chances to score, while Denmark could have easily banged in 4-5 goals. Armenia’s performance was much worse than the result shows and it wasn`t really a surprise. In the qualifying campaign for Euro 2016, Armenia gained just 2 points in 8 matches!

Romania was piss poor in the first match under Cristoph Daum, recording a 1-1 home draw against Montenegro after a horrible game of football. To be fair, Romania missed a penalty in the 97th minute, but that match was clearly one that should have finished 0-0. Daum, the first foreign manager in Romania’s history, made some really strange tactical moves, playing robust center midfielders on the wing and left backs as defensive midfielders. It remains to be seen if he will adjust his tactics this time around, as he has been pretty silent about it.

Bet on Armenia vs. Romania and get your 100% (100 €) exclusive bonus at Ohmbet!

Team news & lineups:

Armenia will miss their most (and only) influential player, Mkhitaryan. Romania can’t count on Chiriches and Pintilii, both long term injuries. Maxim is highly doubtful while regular left back Filip is also questionable. Both are expected to miss out, but both are easily replaceable.

Armenia: Beglaryan – Voskanyan, Andonian, Haroyan, Mkoyan, Hayrapetyan – Özbiliz, Malakyan, Pizzelli, Kadymyan – Pogosyan

Romania: Tatarusanu – Benzar, Grigore, Moti, Tosca – Hoban – Popa, Stancu, Stanciu, Chipciu – Andone (Alibec)

Armenian football is really poor right now and even if Romania is far from being a great (or even good) team, they should be able to win this – especially as anything else but a win would almost ruin their qualifying campaign after just 2 matches.

I don`t expect a great performance from the visitors, but even the slightest improvement compared to the Montenegro game should be more than enough for the 3 points here. I do think an improvement will occur, with Cristoph Daum having a match under his belt and a little bit more time to work with the squad.

No matter how average Romania is, they do have much more quality than this poor Armenia team, which doesn`t even have Mkhitaryan available for this clash. A draw can`t be ruled out completely, but I doubt Armenia has the strength to take points away from any decent side at the moment, particularly from an under pressure team like Romania which needs a win like air.

My tip is Romania to win with a -0,25 asian handicap. Odds on this bet seem really good to me, but I won’t push the stakes too much because I`m counting more on my rugby tips this Saturday. Still, a respectable 7 unit investment for me. Prediction: Armenia – Romania 0-1.

Pick: Romania (-0,25 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.79 @ Sbobet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 5.53
Event date: 8 October