Dinamo – Steaua

After the two teams played a 0-0 draw at the same venue three days ago, in the Romanian Cup, the biggest derby of Romanian football will see another episode in the first round of the Liga 1 playoffs. The Red Dogs of Dinamo enter the playoffs on the second place with 22 points, while Steaua is fifth in the table, with 22 points.

The 0-0 Cup draw was the 12th consecutive official match without a defeat for Dinamo (8 wins, 4 draws). They even stayed undefeated in the 4 Winter friendlies they played, so morale is definitely high. However, Dinamo’s performance on Thursday was a bit disappointing. They were / are the most in form team in the country, but were second best to a Steaua team that did not start some of its top players. Manager Rednic said that his main objective was to keep a clean sheet and promised a more offensive Dinamo in the league match.

Steaua has 3 draws and 1 win since the Winter break ended, playing below expectations. The visitors brought in some big names in the Winter (Tamas, Marica, Gebhardt among them), but lack of fitness and old age did not allow these guys to perform the way they were expected to perform. Nevertheless, Steaua’s performance 3 days ago can be considered an improvement and with some key players coming back, the visitors will be confident coming into this game. It seems like 600 of their fans will also be present, after boycotting the team in the last year.

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Team news & lineups:

Each team will have key players returning for this clash. Dinamo has Filip and Essombe back, while Anton is 100% fit, unlike Thursday. For Steaua, Nita, Marica, Stanciu, Varela, Tosca and Popa should be in the starting lineup this time. As for missing players, Dinamo`s only absentee is Hanca, but Ekeng is also highly doubtful. Steaua is without Enache and Bawab.

Dinamo Buc.: Cerniauskas – Marc, Puljic, Mevlja, Filip – Anton, Ekeng – Rotariu, Bicfalvi, Bartalsstovu – Essombe

Steaua Buc.: Nita – Papp, Tamas, Varela, Tosca – Pintilii, Muniru – Popa, Stanciu, Chipciu – Marica

In the Cup match both teams were missing a number of important players, particularly Steaua, which decided to rest a few key guys as well. Somewhat surprisingly, Steaua was the better team in an ugly, uneventful match, maybe even deserving a 1-0 win.

All three matches this season saw very few opportunities to score. There were two 0-0 results and a 3-1 Dinamo win which almost had less goal scoring chances than goals. It`s a very tight match with huge importance, as a win or a loss can make or break your season. It`s highly unlikely that the two managers will take any risk, even if Dinamo`s coach said he will play attacking minded football. The two teams are evenly matched and right now their main strength lies in defense.

This encounter has all the makings of a boring, underish clash and the bookies took some risks by pricing the under at rather high odds – which are dropping, not surprisingly. The match on Thursday saw not only under 2,5 goals, but also under 2,5 shots on target, so a bet on goals not to happen definitely makes sense. With all the above in mind, my tip for this derby clash is under 2,5 goals. Prediction: Dinamo Bucharest – Steaua Bucharest 1-1.

Pick: under 2,5 goals
Odds: 1.70 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 5.60
Event date: 6 March