📊 Form Guide

Universitatea Craiova

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Universitatea Craiova, buoyed by their previous result, will be hoping for more of the same after the 1-3 Liga 1 Play Offs triumph against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe.

In that game, Universitatea Craiova had 46% possession and 17 shots on goal with 8 of them on target. For Universitatea Craiova, the goalscorers were Denil Maldonado (11'), Andrei Ivan (26') and Lyes Houri (68'). On the other side, Sepsi OSK got 18 attempts on goal with 5 of them on target. Marius Ștefănescu (40') scored for Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe.

Universitatea Craiova have been finding it hard to keep clean sheets recently, although they’ve also managed to convert their own chances into goals. Looking at their last 6 games, Universitatea Craiova have been punished defensively in 6 of them in addition to scoring in 5 of those matches.

CFR Cluj

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Following on from a losing effort in their last game against Farul Constanța in Liga 1 Play Offs action, Cluj will be aiming to make amends here.

In that game, CFR Cluj had 50% possession and 17 attempts on goal with 6 on target. On the other side, Farul Constanța got 20 attempts on goal with 8 of them on target. Louis Munteanu (22'), Constantin Grameni (67') and Cristian Ganea (83') scored for Farul Constanța.

The numbers tell their own story, and Cluj have been scored against in 5 of their last 6 games, with opponents netting 10 goals in total. Defensively, CFR Cluj have not been doing too well. It will be interesting to see whether or not that trend can be continued on here.

🤜🤛 Head to head

Looking at their most recent head to head meetings dating back to 11/02/2023 shows that Universitatea Craiova have won 3 of these games and Cluj 0, with the tally of drawn matches being 3.

A total of 12 goals were scored between them in these games, with 8 of them for Studenţii and 4 belonging to Ceferiștii. The average number of goals per game works out to 2.

The last league contest featuring these clubs was Liga 1 Play Offs match day 1 on 16/03/2024 when the final score was CFR Cluj 1-2 Universitatea Craiova.

On that day, CFR Cluj managed 64% possession and 25 attempts on goal with 7 on target. Their only player to score was Matei Ilie (66').

For their opponents, Universitatea Craiova got 9 shots at goal with 4 of them on target. Alexandru Mitriţă (51') was the scorer.

📋 Team News: Universitatea Craiova

The Universitatea Craiova boss Ivaylo Petev will be grateful not to have any fitness concerns to speak of coming into this clash with a completely injury-free group to pick from.

It looks as if Studenţii should go for a 4-2-3-1 formation with Laurentju Popescu, Stefan Vladoiu, Denil Maldonado, Juraj Badelj, Nicusor Bancu, Alexandru Cretu, Anzor Mekvabishvili, Stefan Baiaram, Lyes Houri, Andrei Ivan and Jovan Markovic.

🗞️ Team News: Cluj

Due to a completely healthy group available to choose from, the Cluj boss Andrea Mandorlini doesn’t have any fitness worries to report before this clash.

We reckon that Ceferiștii seem most likely to begin the game with a 4-3-3 system, giving starts to Razvan Sava, Cristian Manea, Matija Boben, Anton Kresic, Camora, Karlo Muhar, Kader Keita, Durel Avounou, Ciprian Ioan Deac, Peter Michael and Philip Otele.

🧠 Prediction

In our opinion, CFR Cluj and Universitatea Craiova could well end up finding themselves level here, with both teams capable of netting.

A draw is a real possibility, as we are expecting there to be little between them. We’re therefore anticipating a very even match with a 1-1 score draw at the end of the 90.

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

Renata Leite, 18:01 25/04/2024