Pandurii – Fiorentina

Pandurii are traditionally a second half of the table team in Romania, but they managed the best performance in club history when they finished 2nd last season. However, that placement was achieved mainly thanks to the financial difficulties of the top romanian clubs and some young players of Pandurii that have since then left the club (Maxim – Stuttgart, Nistor – Evian, Vlad – Dnipro). Pandurii did manage to bring in some decent replacements, especially brazilian attacking midfielder Eric and they surprised everyone by reaching the Europa League group stages, knocking out Levadia Tallin, Hapoel TelAviv & Braga.

All in all, Pandurii is a decent and enthusiastic team, but they are very far from Europa League level in terms of quality and they are even weaker than last season. They have been outplayed in every single game in the group, losing 1-0 to Dnipro (h), 3-0 to Fiorentina (a) and drawing with Pacos 1-1 (a). Pandurii is also having some problems in the poor romanian league, where they are on the 4th place, miles away from the 1st position (6 points behind, 2 more games played). They are on the back of a 1-2 home loss to Vaslui. A particularity about Pandurii this season has been that they played much, much better on the road. In europe they won a single home game (vs. Tallin), while on the road they defeated Braga, Hapoel Tel Aviv or got a point against Pacos.

Fiorentina is great this year, making some big-names signings in the off-season. Even if star striker Mario Gomez is out for the year, the Firenze side is pumping on all cylinders. Fiorentina is 6th in Serie A and won 3 of the last 4 domestic games (2 of those win being against Juventus and Milan). In Europa League they have 9 points from 3 games, dominating the group with authority. The italians clearly outplayed Pandurii two weeks ago in Firenze (3-0) and coach Montella insists that he is seeking another victory, wanting to consolidate the first place in the group (Dnipro is just 3 points behind).

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Team news

Montella said he will send the best available team on the pitch, and this is a key information for this game. The ex-Roma striker always kept his word and backed up his statements with actions on the pitch, so surely the visitors will be 100% focused to win this game. They will miss some players: (Rossi, Ambrosini, Rebic, Pizzaro, Vargas or Fernandez), but otherwise expect the best possible 1st eleven. Pandurii will probably miss one of their best players (striker Matulevicius), but otherwise full squad is available.

Fiorentina squad that traveled to Romania: Alonso, Aquilani, Borja Valero, Capezzi, Compper, Cuadrado, Empereur, Fazzi, Fernandez, Iakovenko, Ilicic, Joaquin, Lezzerini, Munua, Neto, Pasqual, Rodriguez, Roncaglia, Ryder, Savic, Tomovic.

Note that Pandurii does not play this game on their home stadium, they have to travel 300 kilometers to Cluj, where they will have little to no support (they are not a well supported team). As I previously said, they have performed poorly on this stadium so far. We have our home court advantage analysis that could help you better understand what kind of impact will this fact have on Pandurii.

Fiorentina was dominant in the previous meeting with Pandurii and you have to look for the italians to come up with a win today. For romanian standards Pandurii are well coached, they have fighting spirit and a difference maker in Eric, but overall they are really poor and have no business being at this level. They are not even in their best form. The difference between them and a side like Fiorentina is huge, so I`m going with the visitors even if italian teams are prone to draws on the road and one might think Firenze will be satisfied with a stalemate today. But Pandurii is not really playing at home and they have been poor in Cluj so far. Dnipro won here and controlled the game without problems, so I don`t see why a focused Fiorentina side shouldn`t do the same. The hosts, of course, have a fighting chance, but they should come up empty handed in the end. Even motivation is on La Viola`s side, their are fighting for the first place while the home team only has pride at stake. The odds are fair so I`ll go with high stakes. My pick is Pandurii – Fiorentina 0-1, but with no stress for the visitors.

Pick: Fiorentina
Odds: 1.70 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 6.30
Event date: 7 November

Editor Facts

• Rostick is 1 for 2 in tips on Pandurii this season