Universitatea Craiova vs Pandurii Targu Jiu
FreeWant to support the site for all the hard work that goes into it? Click here for membership details. Need outright wins instead of value picks? Click here for consultancy details.
Today’s secondary featured game is the Romanian Liga encounter between Unviersitatea Craiova and Pandurii Targu Jiu. This is a massive game from the relegation battle perspective and I expect to see a hard-fought game as a result.
I don’t usually have faith in Craiova scoring goals because they’re simply not very good at it. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that they’re bad at it! However, they appointed Italian coach Napoli for his second stint with the club recently and given that he bailed them out from relegation not long ago, it’s reasonable to expect him to inspire confidence in the hosts here. The absence of Ciuca at the back makes it likely that the hosts will concede in this game but with Napoli at the helm, you have to expect Costea and Dina to produce enough here for the hosts to score in their desperate battle against relegation.
Fortuitously, Pandurii are no longer a defensive side as Grigoras likes them to play attacking football so we should see the visitors take the game to their hosts. They’ll be confident too, entering the game on the back of a 2-1 home win against sleeping giants CFR Cluj so they’ll fancy their chances against their out-of-form hosts. However, no Matei at the back and no Voiculet or Bacila in midfield makes this Pandurii side anything but complete and given that they love to attack nowadays, I have to expect them to concede here. Matei is one of their most imporrtant defenders and their inspired hosts should find a way past Pandurii in this game, especially considering that Pandurii haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home in the Liga this season. Apostu and Stromajer should be able to score against Craiova with no Ciuca in their ranks too so I think we could see a few goals today.
Form and statistics are hard to include in this preview because Napoli inspires this Craiova side and both sides have some hefty losses. However, for me, there’s value in backing both sides to score with the above in mind so that’s my call today as odds of 11/10 seem too generous.
Team news – Universitatea Craiova miss Stoianov, Ciuca, Lopes, and Ologu whereas Pandurii Targu Jiu miss Bacila, Hidisan, Matei, and Voiculet.
Verdict: Both sides to score at 11/10.
Thursday’s Picks
My tips:
No other singles appeal to me today, guys – sorry!
Accumulator fodder:
Gremio
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!
UEFA Europa League:
Porto vs Spartak Moscow (7) under 2.5 goals
SL Benfica vs PSV Eindhoven (5) both sides to score
Villarreal CF vs Twente Enschede (6) 2-1
Dynamo Kiev vs Sporting Braga (7) 2-0
Copa Libertadores:
Gremio vs Atletico Junior Barranquilla (8) 2-0, at least one red card in this game
Jorge Wilstermann vs Emelec Guayaquil (7) 0-0
Universidad Catolica vs Velez Sarsfield (5) 1-2, at least one red card in this game
Romanian Liga:
Universitatea Craiova vs Pandurii Targu Jiu (4) 2-1
CFR Cluj vs Rapid Bucharest (6) 1-1
Singaporean S-League:
Armed Forces vs Home United (5) 1-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!