Dinamo – Ceahlaul

Dinamo Bucharest is seeking new beginnings as they take on relegation bound Ceahlaul this Saturday at “Dinamo” Stadium in the Romanian Liga 1.

The home team (6th place) is in a rather peculiar situation right now – they fired the coach after just 5 matches and brought in the previous manager, Flavius Stoican. Obviously it is a strange move, especially considering the fact that the start of 2015 wasn`t shockingly bad, but losing at home in the League Cup semifinals 1-3 to Pandurii on Tuesday (a horrible performance after 1-2 in the first leg) was too much to take. Rumors are that the players orchestrated the coaching change and I wouldn’t be surprised, as they loved Flavius Stoican and were upset when he left.

All in all, the coaching change should be beneficial for the hosts. Dinamo played pretty well under him last year and he is very close to the players, which should obviously generate a reaction and an improvement in morale. Obviously Stoican had no time to implement his ideas, but he did coach this team for a long time until a few months ago. Dinamo was so far inconsistent in 2015, they played some good matches and some bad ones, didn`t have two bad ones in a row. Taking all factors into account I see a solid bounce back performance today.

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Ceahlaul (16th place) is a complete mess, they have serious financial problems, changed ownership and coaching staff (hired ex-Inter player Ze Maria as manager) and lost some key players over the winter. The visitors gained 2 points in the first three rounds of 2015, both at home and scoring just one goal. Drawing 1-1 with Pandurii last round was a pretty good result, but the difficult humid conditions clearly had an impact.

Team news: Dinamo is having some problems in defense with Nedelcearu reagravating an old injury, but the Red Dogs are generally healthy. Stoican might choose to rely on the players that he knows from last year, fielding less of the new transfers. Ceahlaul should field a similar lineup to the one that held Pandurii to a 1-1 draw last round.

Dinamo is generally very good at home and usually takes care of lesser opposition, having problems against the top teams. I do expect Stoican’s appointment to have an immediate, positive impact due to his relation with the players, but most of all there is the fact that Ceahlaul is dirt poor. I consider the visitors as being the worst team in Romania right now and I expect Dinamo to win this by handicap. The Red Dogs defeated a similar team to Ceahlaul last round, U Cluj, with a 3-0 scoreline and we should see something similar today.

My tip is Dinamo to win with a 1,5 goal handicap – odds are dropping on all handicap bets. Prediction: Dinamo Bucharest – Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt 3-0.

Pick: Dinamo -1,5
Odds: 1.93 @ Bet365
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 8.37
Event date: 14 March