ROMANIAN LEAGUE BETTING PICK - ASTRA PLOIESTI V STEAUA BUCURESTI

Romanian League

2011-04-10 - Astra Ploiesti vs Steaua Bucuresti

A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt

Astra Ploiesti v Steaua Bucuresti
Football: Romanian Liga 1
Venue: Stadion Astra, Ploiesti
Sunday 10th April – Kickoff time: 20:30 GMT+2

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Astra Ploiesti (9th W-6 D-13 L-5)

Astra came very close to defeat FC Timisoara on the road, but after they’ve been equalized after leading 2-0 and the game finally ended in a draw. Astra would have been the only team to win against Timisoara this season.

Astra Ploiesti is one of the 3 teams from the league not to lose any game in 2011, last time they lost a match was back in November.
Coach Tibor Selymes will send in a defensive team, with only one striker in a 4-2-3-1 system, so I am not expecting lots of goals in this one.

This system proved to be efficient, only conceding one goal (88th minute) in their previous 7 games at home. The last time they suffered a home defeat was back in August, which is quite impressive.

Astra's home form:
01.04.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 23 Astra Ploiesti 2 - 0 Victoria Branesti
14.03.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 21 Astra Ploiesti 1 - 1 CFR Cluj
28.02.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 19 Astra Ploiesti 1 - 0 Gloria Bistrita
22.11.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 16 Astra Ploiesti 1 - 0 Unirea Urziceni
06.11.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 14 Astra Ploiesti 3 - 0 FC Brasov

Steaua Bucuresti (6th W-11 D-7 L-6)

Steaua is in decent form since Sorin Cartu took over the team, especially on the road where they hold an impressive record, not conceding a goal in the previous 5 games. Two of them ended in a goalless draw and Steaua won the other 3 by the same score, 1-0.

Steaua had some problems with injuries lately, but left-back Iasmin Latovlevic has fully recovered, while midfielders Cristian Tanase and Mihai Radut will also be in the squad, but probably not among the starting 11.

Striker Romeo Surdu suffered an injury this week so his place will be taken by Nicolae Dica, the player who joined Steaua for free in the winter break after selling him to Catania for 2m euro in 2008.

Steaua's away form:
02.04.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 23 Poli Stiinta Timisoara 0 - 0 Steaua
11.03.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 21 Victoria Branesti 0 - 1 Steaua
27.02.2011 Liga 1 Etapa 19 U Craiova 0 - 1 Steaua
20.11.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 16 FCM Târgu-Mureş 0 - 1 Steaua
08.11.2010 Liga 1 Etapa 14 Rapid 0 - 0 Steaua

The Betting Verdict

Steaua still has hopes for winning the title despite having a considerable points deficit and Astra could make those hopes vanish if they keep playing like they did recently at home.

There shouldn’t be more than two goals in this, as Steaua’s previous 6 games ended in less than 2 goals while Astra only registered one over 2.5 in their previous 8 clashes.

It’s difficult to get 3 points from a trip to Ploiesti and Steaua is not the team that once everyone feared, so I don’t give them much credit to win this game.

The Pick :