Romania – Poland

Bucharest will be the host of a crucial match between Romania and Poland, counting for the 2018 World Cup qualifying tournament, Group E.

Cristoph Daum has not had much success in his start as Romania manager. In the three matches played under his reign, Romania defeated Armenia 5-0 but only got draws against Montenegro (home) and Kazakhstan (away). Additionally, the level of football was rather poor, particularly on the offensive end – but that`s not much of a surprise considering that Romania has a historically poor generation of players. The fact that the superstar of the team, Stanciu, plays for Anderlecht and fails to impress there, is a testament to the lack of talent in the side.

As opposed to Romania, Poland has a really good generation of players, with a lot of guys playing for top European sides. The talent isn`t top class on every position on the pitch and Poland lacks depth, but they are one of the good sides in Europe. The visitors performed very well in Euro 2016 where they reached the quarters and lost via penalties to Portugal, but so far in this qualifying group they have been far from their best – drawing with Kazakhstan and barely beating Armenia at home in the last minute. They did defeat Denmark 3-2 at home in their best game in this group.

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Team news & lineups:

Romania will miss Alibec, while Sapunaru is questionable and will probably be left on the bench. Neither player is a key regular, but both are important pieces. Poland will miss Milik, which will be the most notable absence in this game. Also, Dawidowicz and Rybus are injured.

Romania: Tatarusanu – Benzar, Chiriches, Grigore, Filip – Hoban – Popa, Martin, Stanciu, Chipciu – Andone

Poland: Fabiański – Piszczek, Glik, Cionek, Jędrzejczyk – Grosicki, Zieliński, Krychowiak, Błaszczykowski – Teodorczyk, Lewandowski

Poland is the better team here and, in all honesty, Romania is looking really poor. The Romanians have not gotten better under Cristoph Daum and some might argue that they actually got worse. But the reality is that there`s just too much lack of talent in the team for any coach to work with. I definitely do not see Romania defeating a superior, well organized side like Poland. After all, the Romanians won just 2 of their last 10 matches, against Georgia and Armenia.

On the other hand, Poland are not world beaters either and they haven`t impressive at all in this qualifying campaign. They will probably settle for a draw away from home, it would be a good result going forward in this group. Some of the men involved, like Piszczek, actually stated that the objective is not to lose.

I think that Romania would be happy with a draw as well, despite them pumping their chest that they want to win. Fact is that a loss would destroy their (slim) chances of qualifying, so they can`t risk that. A draw would keep Romania barely alive, maintaining an artificial sentiment of hope, so it wouldn`t be a bad result at all for the coaching staff, players, federation or press.

I expect a draw between two well organized sides that excel in terms of discipline and tactical consistency – but I will secure the bet in case the team with (much) better players wins. So, my tip is a draw on the Poland win no bet market. Prediction: Romania – Poland 1-1.

Pick: Draw – Poland win no bet
Odds: 1.87 @ Bwin
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 7.83
Event date: 11 November