Rapid Bucharest take on the visitors Petrolul in the round 20 match of Romanian Liga 1. The match will be played on Wednesday, December 14th at Stadionul Giuleşti - Valentin Stănescu (Bucharest).
Rapid Bucharest, on the one hand, historically the grandees of Romanian football. They have repeatedly taken various titles in the domestic arena and reached the quarter-finals of European competition. But over the last decade, starting from 2012/2013, there has been a period of the strongest problems. First there was the relegation of the grandee from the country's top division. Moreover, over the following years, they spent only 1 year in the “tower” - and the 2016/2017 draw was held in the 5th (fifth!) Division of the country! However, then there was a sharp rise, and already last season it turned out to be in the big leagues, taking a rather modest, even for a beginner, 9th place. Now it seems to be possible to add, and abruptly: by the next round they came up in 3rd position. But, on the other hand, it has already failed to win three times: defeat with Steaua and draws with KSU Craiova and Arges.
| 2 x £10 Free Bet | Review | |||
| 100$-500$ for No Lose Free Bets | Review | |||
| 100% up to £200 | Review | |||
| Not available | Review |
Petrolul represents Ploiesti, the oil capital of Romania. When the sponsors were doing well and there was a lot of money, it turned out to take trophies. This is a 4-time champion of the country, plus three times, including in 2013, they managed to take the cup. But then the local businessmen had no time for football, and the glorious club went bankrupt. Fortunately, it turned out to rise from the 4th division quite quickly. Only in the last draw they managed to win the 2nd division - an excellent result of the work of Niculae Constantin, the ex-player of the club (however, he also played a lot for Rapid). And, most importantly, it turned out not to get lost in the top league of Romania, even if the results were not brilliant as expected. In 19 fights, 9 victories and 29 points were taken. Taking into account the 2-0 at home with the “Universities” (Cluj), it turned out to rise to the top half of the standings, to 8th place. Given that these are the first months that are held at this level for the first time in 6 years with a tail, hardly anyone could demand more. On the other hand, it's still frankly too early for this team to relax completely.
Over the past 10 years, Rapid has managed to win only once in 9 head-to-head matches. Petrolul has only 3 wins, but it was stronger in both last matches, both in 2020 (2-0) and this year (1-0). But both times the “oilmen” played at home. Experts consider Rapid to be the clear favorite - most likely, simply because this meeting will be held in the capital, on the field of the White Garnet. But they are not so stable, so it is better to use a neutral option with a bet that this match will be “total over 2.0 goals scored”.
Prediction for the match: Over 2.0 scored goals.
