Romanian League
2012-05-07 - Concordia Chiajna vs Steaua Bucuresti
A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt
Football : Romania : Liga 1
Venue: "Concordia", Chiajna
Monday 7th May – Kickoff time: 19:00 GMT+2
Concordia Chiajna (13th W-10 D-6 L-13)
At the end of the first part of the championship Concordia was sitting on the 17th place with only 10 points from 17 games. In 2012 Chiajna recorded 8 victories in 12 games and they would be leaders if the championship had begun this year.
Thanks to some superb performances Concordia climbed their way up to the 13th position, 6 points above the drop zone. During this time Claudiu Reghecampf’s team scored 23 goals, four of those against leaders CFR Cluj.
This must be the most surprising comeback I have seen in recent years in Liga 1, everyone though that Concordia will relegate at the end of the season, but they are on fire now and Steaua has a lot of reason to worry about this match.
However, one of Concordia’s best players in the second part of the championship, Adi Rocha is suspended for this match, which is good news for Steaua’s defenders.
Concordia’s home form:
27.04.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 28 Concordia Chiajna 2 - 0 Vointa Sibiu
16.04.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 26 Concordia Chiajna 1 - 3 Dinamo
02.04.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 24 Concordia Chiajna 2 - 0 Ceahlaul
24.03.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 23 Concordia Chiajna 0 - 0 U Cluj
16.03.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 21 Concordia Chiajna 1 - 0 Rapid
Steaua Bucuresti (5th W-15 D-8 L-6)
Steaua was considered one of the favorites to win the title this year, but time is running out and they are still sitting outside the podium.
Steaua has been decent in 2012, but they failed to win the games against their title contenders and lost a crucial match at home against FC Vaslui at the end of April, which was a huge setback for Mihai Stoichita’s team.
Against teams from the second part of the table Steaua has been quite consistent, even if most of their victories were by one goal.
Stefan Nikolici appeared in the starting line-up for the first time in Steaua’s previous match against Petrolul and he managed to score the decisive goal that earned his team all points. He may be given another chance against Concordia.
Steaua’s away form:
29.04.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 28 Rapid 1 - 1 Steaua
14.04.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 26 Otelul Galati 1 - 2 Steaua
31.03.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 24 Pandurii Tg. Jiu 1 - 1 Steaua
22.03.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 22 FCM Târgu-Mureş 1 - 0 Steaua
12.03.2012 Liga 1 Etapa 20 U Cluj 0 - 1 Steaua
The Betting Verdict
Claudiu Reghecampf took over Chiajna in the winter break and brought like a dozen of players with him, most of them for free. I’d say that a comparison with Brad Pitt’s character from Moneyball is fair and I’ll explain why.
Adi Rocha for example is a Brazilian striker that moved to Energie Cottbus in 2009 but because of a serious injury that could have ended his career, he only played one match in 3 years for the Germans. He joined Concordia at Reghecampf’s recommendation and scored 4 goals so far, being one of the best players of the team.
Despite Concordia’s impressive form, I am not so confident that they’ll cope with the pressure that comes with a match against Steaua Bucuresti, just like they failed against Dinamo Bucuresti a few weeks ago, losing at home (1-3).
Chiajna is a small town just outside Bucharest which means that their stadium will be populated with Steaua’s fans, so I can’t say that the home advantage will count in this one.
The Pick :
Concordia Chiajna 0-1 Steaua Bucuresti
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Steaua Bucuresti to win at 1.83 at Bet365Confidence: 7/10
