📊 Form Guide

Universitatea Craiova

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Universitatea Craiova fans will want a repeat of their previous result, being a 1-2 Liga 1 Play Offs success versus Rapid Bucharest.

In that game, Universitatea Craiova managed 45% possession and 13 attempts at goal with 4 on target. For Universitatea Craiova, goals were scored by Andrei Ivan (30') and Alexandru Crețu (96'). At the other end, Rapid Bucureşti got 14 attempts on goal with 3 of them on target.

It’s been all too rare in recent games where Universitatea Craiova have shown defensive steel. It will be a concern for them that Universitatea Craiova have been scored against in 6 of their previous 6 clashes, letting in 8 goals during that time. We will have to see if that trend can be sustained into this next match.

Steaua Bucharest

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Steaua Bucharest head into the encounter following on from a 2-1 Liga 1 Play Offs win to beat Farul Constanța in their previous outing.

In that game, Steaua Bucharest had 44% possession and 19 attempts at goal with 6 of them on target. For Steaua Bucharest, the goalscorers were David Miculescu (26') and Alexandru Băluță (84'). On the other side, Farul Constanța had 8 attempts at goal with 2 on target. Rivaldinho (79') was the scorer for Farul Constanța.

In their previous 6 clashes, Steaua Bucharest have bagged a total of 10 goals. Steaua Bucharest have also not failed to score on each one of those occasions. In that time, they’ve seen 5 goals go into their own net.

🤜🤛 Head to head

Delving into their past head to head meetings going back to 19/02/2023 reveals that these encounters have been a source of anguish for Universitatea Craiova. They have not been able to come away with any wins at all whereas Steaua Bucharest have been superior, finishing as winners in 67 per cent of those match-ups.

A combined sum of 15 goals were produced between them in these games, with 3 for Studenţii and 12 coming from Steliștii. That is an average goals per game value of 2.5.

The previous league fixture featuring these clubs was Liga 1 Play Offs match day 3 on 07/04/2024 when it ended Steaua Bucharest 2-0 Universitatea Craiova.

On that occasion, Steaua Bucharest managed 40% possession and 12 attempts on goal with 5 on target. Their only player on the scoresheet was Florinel Coman (29').

Universitatea Craiova got 15 shots at goal with 3 of them on target. Ștefan Vlădoiu (32' Own goal) was the scorer.

📰 Team News: Universitatea Craiova

Alexandru Mitriţă (unknown injury) and Vladimir Screciu (Muscle fiber tear) won’t be available for Universitatea Craiova gaffer Ivaylo Petev.

We think that Studenţii will probably opt for a 4-2-3-1 system for this one and select Laurentju Popescu, Mihai Capatina, Gjoko Zajkov, Raul Silva, Nicusor Bancu, Alexandru Cretu, Anzor Mekvabishvili, Stefan Baiaram, Lyes Houri, Andrei Ivan and Jovan Markovic.

📋 Team News: Steaua Bucharest

Owing to a completely injury-free group to choose from, the Steaua Bucharest manager Ilias Charalambous does not have any fitness worries whatsoever coming into this match.

We’re of the thinking that Steliștii appear most likely to elect for a 4-3-3 formation with a starting lineup of Stefan Tarnovanu, Valentin Cretu, Siyabonga Ngezana, Joyskim Dawa, Ovidiu Popescu, Mihai Lixandru, Adrian Sut, Darius Olaru, Alexandru Baluta, David Miculescu and Octavian Popescu.

💭 Prediction

We believe that Steaua Bucharest will likely create enough chances to put one past this Universitatea Craiova outfit, however it might not quite be enough to avoid a loss.

We can see a tight encounter finishing with a 2-1 advantage for Universitatea Craiova when all is said and done. Let’s see what happens here.

Our expert partners are tipping under 3.5 goals for this match. Check out their VIP predictions here.

Peter Guest, 17:01 06/05/2024