Petrolul – Rapid

Petrolul Ploiesti hosts Rapid Bucharest in one of the oldest derbies in Romanian football, but for sure this will be one of the few times when Petrolul is favored by the odds … heavily.

Petrolul Ploiesti benefited from investments made by the City Council and is hands down one of the best 3 teams in Romania, maybe even the best. The hosts have a great squad and there`s great excitement around this well supported team who has rarely seen better days. Petrolul is in super form right now, winning all their 3 Liga 1 matches with a 10-2 goal difference … but most notably beating Plzen 4-1 on the road in Europa League. Their last three games were 4-1, 5-1, 4-1. Petrolul has a big game in Europa League Thursday but they have enough time to recover and the derby against Rapid will be treated 100% seriously.

Petrolul lineup: Pecanha – Beta, Geraldo, Gerson, Fanchone – Hoban, De Lucas – Albin, Mutu, Teixeira – Tamuz

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Rapid promoted from Liga 2 but is still in one of the worst periods in their history; there are big money problems at the club … they almost went bankrupt but attracted an investor a few weeks ago, but he does not look too reliable and things are still bad, it will take time to make a financial analysis and build a squad. Rapid has a very poor roster both in quality and numbers and are among the relegation favorites. But the strong spot for them is that they have a lot of heart, players care for the club and are fighting to the last minute and for this reason they have 4 points in 3 games. But those points were against weak teams and when they met a team similar to Petrolul (Steaua) they lost 3-1 at home.

Rapid lineup: Bornescu – Tanc, Mera, Al. Iacob, M. Stoica – Sandulescu – Al. Coman, E. Dica, Pancu, Cojocnean – Ciolacu

The quality gap between Petrolul and Rapid is huge and it would be a huge surprise for Petrolul not to win … it will also be a surprise if they don’t cover the handicap. Petrolul played very attacking football this season and often covered big handicaps, they are a very strong team and this match is huge for them. They probably never had and never will have such a chance again to beat Rapid by many goals. My tip will be Petrolul to win with 1,25 asian handicap. Rapid will fight, but Petrolul will want to win by as many goals as possible; and in front of their fantastic fans I am confident they will get at least a 2-0 result. I trust my analysis with 8 units stake. Correct score prediction: Petrolul Ploiesti – Rapid Bucharest 2-0.

Pick: Petrolul (-1,25 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.86 @ Sbobet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.88
Event date: 16 August