Romania vs Montenegro
European Qualifiers – 2018 World Cup
Date: Sunday; 4-September-2016
Kick-off: 01:45 GMT+7
Venue: Cluj Arena (Cluj-Napoca).
Reason For Betting Tips
Romania managed to make it back to a major finals thanks to excellent organisation and a formidable back line in Euro 2016 qualifying. They conceded just two goals in their ten qualifying matches, scoring 11 at the other end to help them on their way to an impressive 20 points. This saw them finish 2nd in the group behind Northern Ireland.
They were equally stalwart at the back when the time for France rolled around, but the higher quality of team eventually came out on top. France beat them in the opener with a late Dimitri Payet stunner and then Switzerland held them to a draw before the equally determined Albanians beat them to see Romania finish bottom of their group.
Qualifying for the World Cup in Russia in two years time will be a difficult task as well. Poland are the group favourites and Romania will have to be at their best to see off the threat of Denmark, especially to claim a possible playoff spot. Kazakhstan, Montenegro, and Armenia are by no means sure fire wins either.
They should be beating Montenegro, but the visitors can occasionally be difficult to break down. They finished 4th in their Euro 2016 group behind Austria, Russia, and Sweden, but an 11 point haul isn’t a terrible return and they did only conceded 13 times over the course of their ten games.
Montenegro’s last outing was a 1-0 defeat to Turkey in the build up to Euro 2016, with that defeat making it five losses and one draw from their last six matches. They have only won two of their last 14 outings, drawing three times and losing nine.
I think Romania have enough about them to get the win on Sunday. They have won seven of their last 12 home matches and lost just once, whilst Montenegro have lost seven of their last eight on the road. I highly doubt it will be a high scoring match though. Romania have only seen three or more goals scored in three of their last 17 matches at home and Montenegro have played their part in low scoring affairs in six of their last ten away games.
This makes odds of 2/1 for Romania to Win and Under 2.5 Goals look a very good value bet, so I’m backing that along with a 1-0 win for the hosts at 15/4.
Romania vs Montenegro: Head to Head statistics
The latest meeting between the two sides came in a friendly on May 2008. Romania put four past behind Montenegro to earn a comprehensive victory.
Romania vs Montenegro:Prediction
Montenegro are coming to Romania on the back of a six match win-less run. The wins against minnows Lichtenstein and Moldova are their only wins in the 12 matches. They have also lost in 6 of their last 7 away games. And Romania have a perfect chance to start their World Cup qualifying campaign with a win. Despite their failure at Euros, Romania have done relatively well while playing at home.
Also, 13 of the last 15 home games of Romania have seen less than 3 goals. So under 2.5 goals is another option for this European World Cup qualifier.
