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Romania’s CFR Cluj will seek a win to stay in contention for qualification when they meet CSKA Sofia from Bulgaria in the Europa League Group A on Thursday. CFR has 4 points (three behind second placed Young Boys), while CSKA Sofia has a single point.
The big news from the home camp is the recent firing of coach Dan Petrescu, the man which won three league titles in a row with CFR and lead them to great European success – qualifying from a tough Europa League group last season, and reaching the group stage again this season. Petrescu’s dismissal was shocking and was attributed to communication issues, but also to CFR’s poor form. The hosts lost 5 of their last 6 matches in all competitions (including 0-5 and 0-2 vs Roma in the Europa League), scoring a single goal in those losses.
CSKA Sofia is having a pretty good season domestically, sitting on the third place in the standings and losing just once in 13 games (with 6 wins and 6 draws), but they only managed to win a single point in the Europa League group stage – ironically it was against as Roma, in Rome. They lost the other three against CFR and Young Boys (twice) and are actually yet to score a goal in the group. They will only have pride and money to play for tonight.
Petrescu’s dismissal from CFR Cluj was a real surprise, as there’s no doubt he was the best manager in Romania by a wide margin, and certainly lead this team to heights well above their means. Able to create a cohesive group and excelling in terms of defensive organization and discipline, he was unanimously considered the main architect of CFR’s success.
Now CFR Cluj is facing an uncertain situation, they still do not have a manager and it is actually unclear who will coach the team for this game – just that it will be somebody from inside the club. They are also dealing with some injuries to important players, although a couple of them have just returned to training and are likely to play.
CSKA Sofia doesn’t have much to play for (while CFR does) and that’s something which always worries bettors, but the flipside to that is that the pressure will be all on CFR – and it’s a fair question to ask if they can handle it given all the commotion which happened at the club this past week.
Earlier in the group, in the opening match actually, CFR Cluj defeated CSKA Sofia 2-0 in Bulgaria. CSKA started that game really well and should have scored, as they missed a few big chances, but then CFR slowly took control tactically and capitalized on its superior experience to win the three points.
CFR Cluj is the better team, but it’s not like there’s a big difference between the two sides. With all the uncertainty surrounding the hosts and their poor form, I think it’s worth taking a shot on CSKA Sofia here, as long as we keep the stakes reasonable.
I’ve been alternating between CSKA +0,5 with 5 units or CSKA +0,75 with 7 units, in the end I will choose the second option. It would give us half the stakes back in case of a one goal win for CFR, a defensive minded side which rarely wins convincingly. Prediction: CFR Cluj – CSKA Sofia 1-1.
Pick: CSKA Sofia (+0,75 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 2.10 @ 1xBet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 7.70
Event date: 3 December
