Romanian League
2012-10-26 - Brasov vs Petrolul Ploiesti
A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt
Football : Romania: Liga 1
Venue: "Tineretului " - Brasov
Friday 26th October – Kickoff time: 20:00 GMT+2
Brasov (7th W5 D4 L3)
Brasov caused a huge shock last stage beating Rapid in Bucharest, recording their first away victory this season in six attempts.
Prior to that match there’ve been important changes at Brasov, Sorin Cartu being appointed as the head coach. That probably translated into a positive impact which made the players play with more determination.
Sorin Cartu is an experienced coach who is well known for taking over teams in difficulty, he managed to save a lot of teams from relegation despite being in tough situations at the time of his arrival. He also has some experience at one of the big clubs from Romania, he was in charge of CFR Cluj in 2010 for a few months.
Cartu’s sides are well organized, defensive minded, but at Brasov he has some excellent counter attack players so beating this team should be quite a challenge.
Petrolul Ploiesti (8th W5 D4 L3)
Petrolul recorded back to back wins for the first time this season, securing a 1-0 home win over bottom placed CS Turnu Severin after previously collecting 3 points from their trip to Constanta against Viitorul.
What do these two victories have in common? Both were recorded against newly promoted sides, Petrolul is still struggling to deliver against top sides, they’ve already lost to Dinamo, Vaslui and Steaua.
The 2-1 win in Constanta against Viitorul was actually their first away win of the season and it was obtained thanks to an 88th minute goal from substitute Vlad Morar.
The Betting Verdict
Brasov holds a solid 4-1-1 home record this season and their head to head record against Petrolul when playing at home is also impressive, with 5 victories in the last 6 games between them.
I would have taken Brasov anyway, but the arrival of coach Sorin Cartu and the victory in Bucharest over Rapid last week are two solid arguments in their favor ahead of this clash.
Petrolul is one of Liga 1’s good sides, but they are struggling when playing on the road and Brasov must be one of the most difficult trips on the calendar, so I can’t see them taking all points here.
The Pick :
Brasov 2-1 Petrolul Ploiesti
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
