CFR Cluj (Romania)
CFR started off the new season on the wrong foot, they’ve only collected one point in each of their two games played so far, despite playing against teams that are not top rated.

The team from Cluj is the best one Romania can give at the moment, they’ve been dominating both Liga 1 and the Romanian Cup winning a total of 8 trophies (including the Romanian Supercup) since 2008.

Winning the championship didn’t guarantee a place in the UCL group stages as it did in 2008 when CFR Cluj played in the competition for the first time in their history, which means that they’ll have to eliminate two teams in order to reach the group stages.

CFR has a poor European record, they’ve played twice in the UCL group stages and once in the Uefa Cup group stages finishing last in all three occasions.

Pantelis Kapetanos is the man to watch, the Greek striker struck twice in the first two league games and he looks like one of the few players from this team who can score goals.

Slovan Liberec (Czech Republic)
Slovan Liberec managed to win the Gambrinus Liga for the third time in their history which is quite a performance considering that there are clubs like Sparta Prague or Slavia Prague playing in the competition.

However, Slovan really struggled to reach this stage of the qualifiers against Shakhter Karagandy from Kazakhstan. The Czechs needed extra time where substitute Blazek scored a decisive 120th minute goal.

Slovan Liberec has some experience with Romanian teams, but I doubt they would want to remember the Europa League play-off tie against Dinamo Bucharest. Slovan managed to take a comfortable lead by winning 3-0 in Romania, but Dinamo amazingly got back in the tie winning by the same score in Liberec, eliminating the Czech side at penalties.

Gambrinus Liga is yet to start, so there’s not much information about their form at the moment. However, needing extra-time against a team from Kazakhstan is a strong signal that they are currently far from their best.

The Betting Verdict
CFR Cluj used to be rock solid when playing at home in Liga 1, but recently it seems like it doesn’t take much to score against them, they rarely keep clean sheets.

Not keeping a clean sheet may cost them a lot in this tie and Slovan Liberec won’t need many chances on counter attack to find the net. I find CFR’s defense vulnerable enough to concede a goal, but overall I think CFR is the better team and should qualify.

I find the odds for the home win quite short so I don’t think that’s the right betting angle for this match. I remember another Czech team Slavia Prague scoring three goals on this stadium in 2009, so I wouldn’t be too comfortable betting against another Czech side that has the same style, so I’ll go for both teams to score at evens.

ROzsolt Betting Tip : CFR Cluj 2-1 Slovan Liberec