Romania facing a must-win in the Principality
As the very first team, the German Football Association has fixed the qualification for the upcoming World Cup 2022 in Qatar. In the group of the Flick eleven, the play-off participant will now be played out on the last matchday. There was another turnaround and before the last 90 minutes of the qualification Romania fell behind in the long-distance duel and now needs support. First, however, they have to fulfil their own homework, as Liechtenstein and Romania face each other in the tranquil town of Vaduz.
The team from the Principality is one of the last football dwarfs in European football and consists mostly of semi-professional/amateur players. Every point gained is considered a great success, but there can always be high defeats like on Thursday night. After the 0:9, rehabilitation is the order of the day, but Romania will (have to) press the accelerator from the start to put North Macedonia under pressure.
Soberly viewed, the only question in this match is probably the amount of the away victory. While betting on Liechtenstein against Romania on the three-way market is not lucrative, there are definitely exciting options in handicap betting, which we will go into in more detail. The match kicks off at the Rheinparkstadion, home of FC Vaduz, on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Liechtenstein – Statistics & current form
To stand on the pitch against Leroy Sane, Thomas Müller or Marco Reus as an amateur player sounds like a fairytale. For some national players from Liechtenstein, such moments become reality every now and then. There is rarely a lack of motivation, but sometimes it spills over into excessive ambition. This was also the main reason for the highest international defeat since a 1:11 against North Macedonia in November 1996.
80 minutes outnumbered
A kung-fu kick from Jens Hofer knocked Leon Goretzka down after just nine minutes; as the attack took place in the penalty area, there was not only red but also a penalty. This heralded a disastrous evening for Martin Stocklasa’s team. Being outnumbered for 80 minutes against a DFB team eager to play is not a good mix. Attack after attack rolled towards the Liechtenstein goal and goalkeeper Benjamin Büchel was completely powerless. Twice he was beaten by his own man.
There are high defeats in between every now and then, but nine goals conceded is a negative record in the 21st century for the team from the country of almost 40,000 inhabitants. After nine match days, Liechtenstein have one point on the credit side, two goals scored and 32 goals conceded.
The course of the game was, of course, absolutely unfortunate for the glaring underdog. After a very good September triple (0:2 against Germany and Romania and a point against Armenia), things did not go according to plan in the October double and Liechtenstein conceded two 4:0 defeats. The defence has been causing major problems lately, and the suspension of Hofer will not improve this. That’s why the prediction for many goals in Liechtenstein against Romania is once again obvious.
Predicted Liechtenstein line-up:
Büchel – Goppel, Kaufmann, Malin, Grünenfelder, S. Wolfinger – Hasler, Frommelt, Sele – Frick, Salanovic
Last matches played by Liechtenstein:
World Cup Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. J
11/11 2021 – Germany 9 – 0 Liechtenstein
10/11 2021 – Iceland 4 – 0 Liechtenstein
10/08 2021 – Liechtenstein 0 – 4 North Macedonia
09/08 2021 – Armenia 1 – 1 Liechtenstein
09/05 2021 – Romania 2 – 0 Liechtenstein
Romania – Statistics & current form
The direction of travel was clear for the team of head coach Mirel Radoi, because with a home win against the recently weakening Icelandic national team and the mandatory victory in the Principality, Romania would have secured second place in the group. The calculation sounded quite simple, but the first part of the game was already lacking in implementation. Almost two-thirds of the ball possession, a goal-shot ratio of 7:0 and the resulting overwhelming superiority were not enough for Romania to secure a home victory against Iceland.
WM hangs by a thread
Northern Macedonia, on the other hand, did not show any weakness in their parallel match and celebrated a 5-0 victory over Armenia. The Romanian upset has left them in third place in Group J, one point behind North Macedonia and with a seven-goal deficit on goal difference.
The power of the offensive has too often been the major shortcoming in Romanian play. In total, only eleven goals have been scored in the nine qualifying matches so far. On the other hand, Romania’s defence is very strong, as they have only conceded three goals, just like the DFB team. Due to the starting situation, however, the goal difference will most likely not play a significant role. Should North Macedonia lose to Iceland, Romania would most likely win against Liechtenstein and thus jump back into second place. However, they will now need support to jump on the play-off bandwagon and dream of their first World Cup participation since 1998.
Generation change completed
In the 90s and around the turn of the millennium, Romania was indeed one of the stronger national teams in Europe. However, the last few years have been marked by disappointments and Romania has been missing almost a complete generation at the higher level. Recent developments, however, may well put the Eastern Europeans back on a positive note, as Mirel Radoi has completed a generational change and now has a number of players in their early 20s who are certainly capable of attracting attention.
The story of the current crop, however, includes Enes Sali. The term youngster takes on a whole new meaning with Sali, as the Viitorul Constanta player is just 15 years old and can be found in the current line-up. Depending on how the game goes, he could make his debut in the principality and become the youngest national player.
Predicted line-up of Romania:
Nita – Ratiu, Chiriches, Nedelcearu, Tosca – Cicaldau, Marin, Stanciu – Hagi, Alibec, Tanase
Last matches played by Romania:
World Cup Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. J
11/11 2021 – Romania 0 – 0 Iceland
10/11 2021 – Romania 1 – 0 Armenia
10/08 2021 – Germany 2 – 1 Romania
09/08 2021 – North Macedonia 0 – 0 Romania
09/05 2021 – Romania 2 – 0 Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein – Romania Direct comparison / H2H balance
For the hosts, the view of the previous results against the Eastern Europeans is extremely dismal. Sunday’s match will be the sixth meeting with Romania for the team from the principality, and so far there have only been defeats. For the most part, these were still quite clear, as towards the end of the 20th century Liechtenstein had to admit defeat by scores of 8:0, 8:1 and 7:0. The “closest” result so far was the first leg of the current qualification. Romania set the course for victory early on and after 18 minutes the final score of 2:0 was already fixed.
Liechtenstein – Romania tip
Absolutely disappointing Thursday night for both teams. Liechtenstein slid into a debacle and Romania lost their good starting position. For the hosts, rehabilitation is on the agenda, while for the guests the principle of hope applies. In order to create pressure in the long-distance duel, the guest will probably press the accelerator from the start and look for an early decision. For Liechtenstein against Romania, the HT/FT 2/2 tip is certainly an option as well.
The Eastern Europeans have not been known for goal festivals of late, but the Stocklasa team’s major defensive problems (17 goals conceded in three games) mean that a few goals can still be expected. Four goals are certainly within the realms of possibility, so we recommend betting on a score of over 3.5 with odds of around 2.20 and five units for Liechtenstein against Romania.
