Pandurii Tg.Jiu vs. Concordia Chiajna - Preview

Pandurii - Concordia Chiajna

   Petre Grigoras, the coach of Pandurii, has some issues with 2 of the foreign players in the team, midfielder Vranjes and Stromajer. While at first sight this might seem a big minus for the team, it really isn\'t that much of a loss. First of all, Pandurii is having such a good run this season because of their passing game. They run a lot, they are the team which makes the most dribblings per game, the players can find one another on the pitch blindfolded. They are very good on creating scoring chances, and the strikers have a simple task in scoring goals.

   Mingote - Ad.Rusu, O.Viera, Chiriches, Al.Vlad - Nistor, Pintilii, Al.Maxim, Cardoso - Lemnaru, Batin

    The full-backs help in attack a lot, in midfield they are very creative, and they are a team which takes down opponents at home 80% of the time. They\'ve also had a tough schedule at home this season, but they\'ve managed extremely well defeating the likes of Brasov 2-1, Gaz Metan 1-0, CFR Cluj 2-0, Rapid 3-0 or U.Cluj 1-0, and every one of those wins were well deserved.

   So, what has Concordia Chiajna to offer in this game to avoid the inevitable? Nothing.

   They are a bunker team, some decent level players, I\'ll give them that, but nothing else. Better teams have come at Pandurii and were left empty-handed.

Kolev - P.Marin, Mamele, Bozga, Vitinha - Chitu, Ad.Popa, Muzac, I.Iordache (V.Munteanu) - Salem, Baltoi

    They made life difficult on the road to Rapid, Otelul, Dinamo or U.Cluj. It\'s true. But Pandurii is the best passing team in the league. They find spaces like no other, keep things tight at the back thanks to an agressive pressing which works out extremely well especially in home games, and rarely concede goals.

    Fact is, Chiajna is in a crisis, these defensive tactics have prevented the from embarassing defeats, but in terms of avoiding relegation and gathering points they have been unproductive. This was seen very well in their latest away game, at Targu-Mures as they\'ve lost 3-0, while in their last home game with Gaz Metan, they were in a big rush to score a goal and take a lead, but the lack of confidence in their own abilities made them scoreless at the end. They are the team with the poorest offensive record this season, just 8 goals scored in 16 games, an average of 0.5 goals per game, and 0.25 goals in their away games.

   Since Pandurii is an attacking minded team, which doesn\'t stop even when having the lead, the clean sheet for them is sometimes 50-50 depending on the effectiveness of the other team.

   I see this game as one-sided. Pandurii taking the 3 points. At the same time I see it as an entertaining affair. Concordia will be shaken really badly once they realize they will be left empty-handed after another round, so there is potential for a handicap win for the hosts.

Pandurii(-1.5)AH @ 2.18 Pinnacle Sports -3/10

My prediction for this game is a 4-1 win for Pandurii, so I\'ll be taking as side bets

Pandurii(-2.5)AH @ 3.90 Bet365 - 1/10

Over 2.5 goals @ 2.10 Boylesports 3/10

Over 3.5 goals @  3.85 NordicBet 2/10

and Over 4.5 goals @  8.50 NordicBet 1/10