Dinamo – Brasov

Dinamo Bucharest will receive the visit of FC Brasov at Stefan Cel Mare Stadium in the 5th round of the Romanian Liga 1.

Dinamo is a decent team in Romania right now, they are not fighting for championships like they did in the past due to financial problems but they will probably finish 4th or 5th considering the lack of real competition in the league. The hosts started the season in dominant fashion with 3 solid wins in which they scored 10 goals but the winning streak was quickly followed by 3 draws in a row – what`s worse, the draws came against low level opponents and even more worrying for Dinamo is the progressive decrease in the level of play, which resulted in a horrific performance last week at Chiajna – a 0-0 draw witch saw the highly praised Dinamo offense denied any real scoring chance by a very poor team. However, Dinamo will be happy to return at home where they won 10 of the last 14 matches played in Liga 1.

FC Brasov is one of the favorites for relegation this year. They barely escaped the drop last season but seem even more vulnerable after losing their best player Mateiu and with 6 teams relegating this season. The visitors had an atrocious start to the season but after they changed the manager, Brasov won 4 points in the last 2 games against decent opponents. Midfielder Stefan Grigorie said that his team will only be satisfied with a win today but somehow I doubt it and I bet they would relish a draw.

Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle.

Team news & lineups

Dinamo will have to do without its best player Valentin Lazar today, which is a big blow for an offense which looked surprisingly poor in the last 2 games.

Dinamo: Marc – Fai, Durimel, Cordoş, Filip – Boubacar, Elton, Barboianu – Matei, Rotariu, Biliński

FC Brasov: Iacob – Vagner, Ricardo Machado, Leko, Barna – Grigorie, Munteanu, Bruno Madeira, Serginho – Buga, L. Ganea

The recent form of the two teams favors Brasov, but it also provides slightly better odds than expected on Dinamo. I think the hosts will win this and the main argument, aside from the quality difference, is home court advantage. Dinamo looked much, much better at home in the last year and have proved to be a force at Stefan Cel Mare while Brasov is a disaster away from home: 2 wins, 6 draws and 14 losses in the last 20 road games, with the wins coming against two teams that relegated last year and the draws were also against very poor opposition. I can`t see Dinamo putting on another poor offensive performance, despite the fact that Lazar missing will be a blow, while Brasov could lose some of that short-term morale boost determined by the managerial change. Expect Dinamo to dominate and expose Brasov`s road struggles. My tip is Dinamo to win and cover the -1 asian handicap. Prediction: Dinamo Bucharest – FC Brasov 2-0.

Those who regularly visit Betdistrict surely must know that I am as objective as they come, but still everyone deserves to know I am a Dinamo Bucharest fan, so you can draw your own conclusions.

Pick: Dinamo (-1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.88 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.04
Event date: 30 August