Cluj VS Hermannstadt

Cluj host Hermannstadt for this Romanian Liga 1 round 21 clash at Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu in Cluj-Napoca early Tuesday morning Beijing time. The largest and usually pretty sharp bookies with the biggest betting limits see Cluj as clear favorites here.. They are priced around 1.65 to win - at the time of of writing this at least. I must disagree with this and would not be at all surprised too see the odds on Hermannstadt dropping before the match starts as clever money is expected to pile up on them – especially in handicap betting. My fans and I only need to win with the recommended +1.5 goals' handicap on Hermannstadt is for them to avoid losing by more than one goals difference is over 75%! Cluj are definitely the better team here and do have on edge in all areas of the game and have a 52% chance to take all three points with today's expected lineups. However, they have won just one of their latest five games by more than one goal's difference.. They have a lot more firepower and have netted ball 34 times. Hermannstadt, on the other hand, have scored 25 goals which is still a good number of course.- Cluj are a top-2 team in my power rating that reflect the teams' pure class and do have a genuine chance of winning the championship once again..

In my opinion Cluj are/have been only slightly over-rated by the bookies is this league over a longer period of time but – in fact – sometimes even a bit under-rated like last week away from home when be successfully bet on them against FCSB.. The main rationale behind this pick is the fact that Hermmanstadt are much better than the betting market seems to think. They were promoted back to the first tier for this season and would deserve much more respect from the bookies despite the fact that on paper (the list of players) they do not look overly strong.. They pley well as a team and according to sources also have a good team spirit.. Cluj, weirdly as underdogs, beat FCSB 1-0 last Thursday and did record more goal attempts (17-10), shots on goal (7-5) and one more attack than the hosts. However, overall it was a somewhat balanced battle – FCSB had close to 65% ball possession and recorded much more total passes, completed passes and dangerous attacks. It seems this win affects to odds a bit too much here..

Cluj currently occupy the second place in the standings with 44 points in the pocket, one point behind Farus Constanta, and have a goal difference of 34:18. In terms of defensive quality Cluj only have a small edge as the visitors have allowed just 20 goals and have positively surprised me especially this season in this area of the game. I have raised their power rating from my in-depth preseason analysis and would not be shocked if they were to even make it to top-6! They will surely be quite defensive - perhaps even cautious - here against a strong opponent and would probably be happy with a draw.. However, Cjuj, despite improving their defense recently, still do have some weakness in this area of the game and Hermannstadt can be very dangerous on counter attacks. Cluj are in good form at the moment and have won three of their most recent five games but were very disappointing on the 11th of this month against Botosani away from home prices around 1.55 to win.. Even so, it was a 1-1 draw and the hosts had 54% ball possession and recorded more goal attempts, total passes, attacks and dangerous attacks. The visitors were extremely good and beat Farul Constanta 4-0 (!) at home in their most recent match. Moreover, before this they crushed Chindia Targoviste 4-1 – also at home.