Looking for a third straight win in the UEFA Nations League, Romania travel to Larnaca to face Cyprus at the AEK Stadium on Saturday evening.
While the visitors top Group C Group 2 with a maximum of six points after two opening matches, the hosts are three points behind and in third place.
Latest Cyprus vs Romania team information
Cyprus striker Ioannis Pittas has been a standout performer at club level with Swedish side AIK, scoring 14 goals in 26 domestic league games in 2024. He is expected to lead the line this weekend, with Marinos Tzionis and either Pieros Sotiriou or Grigoris Kastanos likely to provide support in the final attacking area.
Andreas Karo, Alex Gogic and Hector Kyprianou will all continue in a back three, protecting goalkeeper Joel Mall, while Minas Antoniou and Nicholas Ioannou are in contention for starting positions at full-back.
On the Romanian side, FCSB midfielder Adrian Sut has withdrawn from the squad due to injury, but goalkeeper Horatiu Moldovan has been selected after fully recovering and will compete with Florin Nita for the starting spot.
Razvan Marin has scored two penalties in two Nations League games and is expected to continue in midfield, while the likes of Nicolae Stanciu, Denis Dragus and Tottenham Hotspur's Radu Dragusin will all retain their starting places.
Latest expected lineup Cyprus vs Romania
Cyprus:
Mall; Karo, Gogic, Kyprianou; Antoniou, Kastanos, Kousoulos, Ioannou; Tzionis; Sotiriou, Pittas
Romania:
Nita; Ratiu, Dragusin, Burca, Bancu; R. Marin, M. Marin, Stanciu; Man, Dragus, Mihaila
Latest football commentary Cyprus vs Romania
However, just three days later, Cyprus were brought back to reality when they were crushed 4-0 at home by Kosovo, and head coach Temur Ketsbaia was sacked as a result.
Sofronis Avgousti was then appointed as Cyprus' new coach, after he decided to leave his role as Karmiotissa manager after just four competitive matches since taking up the job in July.
Described by the Cyprus Football Association as "Cyprus' most successful coach in recent years," Avgousti will want to start strongly and guide his new side to a first win over Romania since March 2010.
However, Cyprus - ranked 123rd in the world by FIFA - have lost their last five competitive home matches by a combined score of 16-1, and will face a Romanian side on Saturday who have scored six goals in their opening two Nations League wins.
Two months after losing 3-0 to the Netherlands in the last 16 of Euro 2024, Romania won 3-0 away to Kosovo in their Nations League opener, before scoring in the 87th and 92nd minutes to secure a 3-1 home win over Lithuania to take all the points.
In fact, Romania have had plenty of reasons to rejoice since 79-year-old head coach Mircea Lucescu replaced Edward Iordanescu in the summer, returning to lead the national team after 38 years since his first stint.
Ranked 45th in the world by FIFA, the Tricolour are unbeaten in their last seven away qualifying matches in all competitions and can consolidate their top spot in Group C Pool 2 with a win over Cyprus on Saturday, before travelling to Lithuania next Tuesday.
Romania have made an impressive start under Lucescu, despite facing lower-ranked opponents, and they will be considered favourites to win again this weekend.
Cyprus have struggled defensively for some time now, keeping just two clean sheets in their last 19 internationals, and it's hard to imagine the hosts stopping the Tricolour from scoring in this encounter.
Cyprus vs Romania score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the following results for the Cyprus vs Romania match:
- Sportsmole: Cyprus 0-2 Romania
- WhoScore: Cyprus 1-4 Romania
- Our prediction: Cyprus 0-2 Romania
When and where to watch Cyprus vs Romania live?
To watch the Cyprus vs Romania match live in the Nations League at 1:45 a.m. on October 13, viewers can watch on TV360 here, Mytv system here or on online sports channels. Wishing you happy football watching moments.
Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nhan-dinh-du-doan-cyprus-vs-romania-ap-dao-chu-nha-231514.html
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