Betdistrict.com
Romanian champions Astra Giurgiu will face Belgian side Genk in the Europa League round of Last 32, first leg.
Astra has been a huge surprise in the Europa League this season, knocking out West Ham in the playoffs and qualifying from a group with Roma, Plzen and Austria Wien. Despite being reigning Romanian champions, Astra have struggled a lot this season after losing virtually all their best players (including their top guy Alibec this Winter), and are only 7th in the league. However, a mix of effort and good luck helped them do big damage in Europe.
Genk isn`t having a great year either, with the visitors sitting on the 7th place in their domestic league. Like Astra, Genk has done much better in Europe and they were extremely impressive to win a group with Athletic Bilbao, Sassuolo and Rapid Wien. Genk has 2 wins and a draw in the last three matches and is in decent form coming into this match.
Bet on Astra vs. Genk and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet.com now!Team news & lineups:
Astra has serious injury problems as they will miss 2 defensive central midfielders in Boubacar and Lovin, so they will have to improvise. Genk also has problems, missing Bizot, Karelis and Vanzeir, while Dewaest is questionable.
Astra: Lung – Maranhao, Fabricio, Sapunaru, Stan – Seto, Ionita – Teixeira, Budescu, Nicoara – Niculae
Genk: Ryan – Castagne, Brabec, Colley, Uronen – Berge, Pozuelo, Malinovsky – Schrijvers, Samata, Trossard
Credit to Astra for doing so well in Europe, but fact is they were very lucky to reach this stage, having great fortune to win some of their points in the group stage and being helped a lot by the scheduling. Right now Astra is weaker than in the first part of the season, as they lost their best player and top scorer Alibec, the guy who was the center piece of their game plan.
Genk is without a doubt the better team here and they should be able to qualify rather easily against a broken down Astra team, which has financial problems and sold pretty much every top player they had in the pre season and in the Winter off season. Despite this, the first leg might be a tricky affair for them.
Astra proved they can motivate themselves and raise their level in Europe, while Genk has been poor away all season. They are 3-3-7 on the road in Belgium and 2-1-3 in Europa League, including 3 qualifying matches against vastly inferior opposition.
I believe Astra will fight their hearts out in this game and with the help of home court advantage, they should get a draw against a superior team, but not a world beating team. Genk should be pretty satisfied with a scoring draw as well.
I will bet on the draw but with security in case Genk wins, so my tip is a draw on the Genk win no bet market. I believe the risk on this bet is low, as an Astra win seems unlikely considering the poor squad of the hosts. Additionally, Astra has not won a home game in Europe this season – recording 4 draws and 1 loss. Prediction: Astra Giurgiu – Genk 1-1.
Pick: Draw – Genk win no bet
Odds: 1.80 @ Bwin
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.40
Event date: 16 February
