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Steaua Bucharest has had a brilliant 2012-2013 season, winning the league by miles and reaching the Europa league last 16. The credit goes to a very strong squad and a talented young manager in Laurentiu Reghencampf. However, the team lost some of its best player in the summer and their level has decreased a little bit, this was best seen in Champions League where they barely reached the group stages, where they were blown out by Schalke (3-0) and Chelsea (4-0). But Steaua is still the best team in Romania by far, both because of their quality and the poor level of the other contenders. The home team leads the league by 3 points at the moment, despite having 2 games in hand (20-5 goal difference). They are simply cruising in the domestic competition.
Viitorul is one of the main candidates for relegation this season. This team avoided the drop in the last rounds last year after some dubious matches and they lost all their best players in the off-season, having to basically reform the whole first 11. The replacements they brought are far away from the level of the departed players. Viitorul is on 15th place right now with 7 points in 9 rounds and only 4 goals scored. They were demolished by relegation rivals FC Brasov with 4-0 in the last round. Away from home, Viitorul gained a single point in 4 rounds.
Team news & lineups
Steaua will play Basel in Champions League on Tuesday, but there`s enough time to recover until then so Reghencampf will field the best available first 11. Tanase and Pintilii can`t play, while long term absentees Nikolic and Chipciu are still out. Viitorul will have to do without Mitrea and Emerson.
Steaua: Tatarusanu – Georgievski, Szukala, Gardos, Latovlevic – Prepelita, Bourceanu – Cristea, Stanciu, Popa – Piovaccari
Viitorul: Buzbuchi – Tosca, Bejan, Larie, Nikolov – Nastasie, Lazar, Benzar, Carstocea – Axente, Gavra
Steaua is at least a level above any other side in the romanian league and at home, with the best first 11, against a team as poor as Viitorul, they should cruise. The hosts are used to winning by a big margin, the last three home games saw them winning by 3 goals or more against teams arguably stronger than Viitorul. Also, Steaua had to face some criticism lately due to the arrogant attitude of the management and the poor results in Champions League, so they will be eager to prove the doubters wrong with a solid win.
Another interesting fact is that there is intense speculation about the link between these two teams. Viitorul is owned by former Steaua player Gheorghe Hagi and there were a lot of dubious situations in the recent past. For example, Viitorul saved themselves from relegation with an almost sure fixed game against Steaua last season (5-2), while this year the Constanta side has sent its youth team to Steaua just from the kindness of their heart, so that the champions could compete in the Uefa Youth Champions League. I`m the last person to call out matches as being fixed, but there is a real possibility that the visitors will give Steaua a break today. This is not something that I am counting on, but if it happens it would be a nice bonus for us.
All in all Steaua has all the arguments to win big here, from quality to motivation, attacking play and form. There will also be no letdown or underestimating the opponent, that`s because of the recent criticism and proof of that is that the best first 11 will be sent on the pitch. I really can`t see any way for this poor Viitorul side to keep the game close. Expect Steaua to search for a morale boost before the Basel game and get a confident win. Steaua – Viitorul 4-0.
I was really planning on wagering lower stakes after a bad day at the office yesterday, but this looks like the game of the week and it`s too good to not recommend it with max. stakes.
Pick: Steaua (-2 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 2.19 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 10
Possible profit: 11.90
Event date: 18 October
Editor Facts
- Rostick is 4 for 5 in picks involving Steaua this season
