Europa League
2010-09-16 - Liverpool vs Steaua Bucharest
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : Europa League, Group Stage Match Day 1
Thursday 16 September 2010 - Kickoff 8pm
This match is on TV
Liverpool
The start made by Liverpool this season to their new campaign has not escaped criticism by those in the press and change has not come as quickly as people would have liked with the side still having a Rafa Benitez 'feel' to it at this moment. Roy Hodgson has already made it clear that the Europa League is not the priority for the side this season, but it already seems that their best chance of success is going to come through the cups this season.
All the positives that came from the 1-1 draw with Arsenal on the first day of the season seems to have evaporated at this juncture with another lacklustre display at Birmingham City on Sunday following those against Manchester City and West Bromich Albion. The squad definitely looks like it has had improvements made to it, and it may be a little time before we see the best from it. Fernando Torres was criticised for his performance on Sunday but he has scored 3 goals in his last 3 games for club and country as he looks to regain the sharpness that made him one of the most feared strikers in Europe.
Joe Cole has missed the last couple of weeks as his suspension ran through the international break. He is now available for selection again in the Premier League but should get a start here. Paul Konchesky came off with a hamstring problem on Sunday but should be fit for this game. It will be interesting to see if Hodgson decides to rest his players like Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for the trip to Manchester United this weekend.
Steaua Bucharest
Steaua Bucharest, like Liverpool, are a famous European name that is not quite living up to their glorious history in this period of time. Steaua are now managed by Ilie Dumitrescu, a former player that would be familiar to English fans after his stints with Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.
Steaua have made a solid start to the new season in Romania as they look to win the title off of CFR Cluj. Recent results have seen them drop down to 3rd in the table after picking up 1 point from their last 2 games, but they are level on points with the 2 teams above them at the moment.
The Romanian side managed to reach the group stages of this competition last season but they failed to win any of their away games, although only losing 1 in Fenerbache. This season, Steaua beat Grasshoppers in the Play Off stage, but lost in Switzerland and were forced to come through via a penalty shoot out.
Team news is not readily available for me here.
Head to Head
The 2 sides have met in recent history, back in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup. On that occasion, Liverpool won the game at Anfield and managed to get a 1-1 draw out in Romania to progress in the competition.
Liverpool have won 3 of 4 games against Romanian sides at home, while Steaua are 0-2-4 in their history on visits to England.
Prediction
These games can be hard to predict solely because of all of the doubt over which team managers will play. Liverpool will want to get their group off to a good start, even though it is not the most important game for the fans this week. Roy Hodgson has a big decision in picking the players for this game and whether he will rest Gerrard and Torres.
Steaua have proven to be a tough team to play away from home in European competition over the last season. They tend not to concede a lot of goals, but scoring is also a premium for them. Their main threat will come through Romeo Constantin Surdu who has scored 3 goals so far this season.
I have a feeling that we may see another tight game here involving Liverpool. I would not be surprised at all if both Gerrard and Torres are left out of the starting line up with the trip to Old Trafford in mind, and without those 2 players, the odds do start to look a little short. Liverpool struggled at first against Trabzonspor in the last round before finding their stride, and that may be the case again here.
With goals looking like they may be hard to come by for both sides, I will make the obvious under 2.5 goals play here.
The Pick :
Liverpool 1-0 Steaua Bucharest
