TFT Issue 88!
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Featured game
Rapid Bucharest vs Sportul Studentesc – under 2.5 goals at 4/5.
Today’s featured game is the Liga encounter in Romania between Rapid Bucharest and newly-promoted Sportul Studentesc.
With a record showing nine wins and five draws from fourteen home games this season, it’s reasonable to expect the hosts to win this one on the face of things. They’ve got the best defensive record in Romania at home, conceding just over a goal per every three home games. They average scoring nearly two goals per home game too, which makes them look even stronger. However, this club is far from settled at the moment with so many internal conflicts that it’s unreal. It’s been going on for some time now and their results are really starting to show it. Sure, they’re unbeaten in six games but they’ve only won three of them. Goalscoring-wise, they’ve bagged just six goals during those six games whilst conceding just three times and most of those goals occurred during two particular games; three of them ended 0-0 and another ended 0-1. The problem Rapid have experienced lately is that they cannot break sides down. They demonstrated how well they can counter-attack sides that boldly attack them in their 3-2 win against Poli Timisoara lately but either side of that are three 0-0 draws in games they should be winning – well, at least two of them.
That’s how things were in the Rapid camp until recent events made things worse. The players are rumoured to have not been paid for some time and thus went on strike, refusing to train. Star winger Spadacio actually got a flight home to Brazil and has since refused to come back to Romania despite having allegedly now been paid, citing this his agent will act on his behalf and that they’ll take it fromt here. Rapid are struggling enough to score without Cassio – whether he’s actually on the field or not! – but without Spadacio available to them, I simply cannot see where Rapid’s goals will come from.
Newly-promoted Sportul are bottom of the league and were getting whipped at the start of the season by just about everyone. Inexperience can bear a hefty price tag sometimes and it certainly did at the start of the season. However, Sportul have adjusted, as sides do, and are now somewhat harder to beat. Don’t get me wrong – they’re still not really good enough to be in the division, as thirteen defeats in fourteen away games this season emphasises. My point is that they’re defending a lot more cleverly and are actually causing sides a lot of problems at home, most notably in their 2-3 defeat against Poli Timisoara and 1-2 defeat against Steaua Bucharest in some of their more recent home games, not to mention their 2-1 victory against Pandurii Targu Jiu. Sportul don’t tend to attack away from home, hence them losing so many goals, but now that they’re defending quite well, they tend to keep scorelines more respectable. Consider that they conceded twenty goals in seven away games at the start of the season but have conceded just five goals in four away games since returning from the winter break and you’ll see what I mean. In fact, the visitors’ away games have gone under 2.5 goals in six out of their last seven games. Sportul are playing with a lot more fire than earlier in the season and a lot more maturity, which will aid them here, no doubt.
Like I said earlier – Sportul aren’t a great team but they’re hard-working and they will be hard to break down here. Rapid are a long way from well-placed to win this game, irrespective of being the better team, and thus I doubt their chances here. Rather than enter the complicated 1×2 market here, however, my call is going to be under 2.5 goals as I can’t see many goals materialising here for reasons listed above and because I think the odds are generous.
Team news – Rapid Bucharest miss Juliano Spadacio.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at 4/5.