National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Botoşani or Universitatea Craiova that keep their silverware dream alive.
These are busy days for the home team, as they were in action only three days ago in the Liga 1. This match was also played here at Stadionul Municipal. With two consecutive home games the intense schedule is somewhat softened. Still, Universitatea Craiova have had more rest.
Botoşani form and stats
Last season their Romania Cup adventure ended in the 8th finals.4-4-3 (win-draw-lost) are the Liga 1 numbers at home for Botoşani so far this season. Botoşani are on a three game winning streak in their home games.
Botoşani's last game was hosting CFR Cluj and winning 2-1. Before that match, a Liga 1 win away at Chindia Targoviste.
The victory against CFR Cluj came after Mihai Roman's winning goal. The Botoşani manager M. Croitoru was very happy afterwards with the decision to bring on that player in the 7th minute.
Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the Liga 1 game versus Gaz Metan Mediaş in only four days. This game is also played here at Stadionul Municipal.
Botoşani are certainly not overdoing their scoring at home in league matches, having created 15 goals in 11 games. Botoşani are not conceding a lot of goals here at Stadionul Municipal in the league, averaging less than one per game. The total is 9 from 11 matches.
Universitatea Craiova form and stats
They also participated in Romania Cup last season. This ended in the quarter-finals.Universitatea Craiova have an excellent away record in the Liga 1 so far with 7-4-0 from 11 games. Universitatea are enjoying a nice run from their away games now, having played 14 in a row without losing.
Universitatea have succeeded in guarding their own goal lately, led by their goalkeeper George Alexandru Cimpanu. It's been 202 minutes since they last conceded in Liga 1.
Impressive finishing secured the home win 1-0 against Dinamo Bucuresti in their previous game. Prior to that result Universitatea won their away game at CSM Iasi in the Liga 1. The scoreline was 3-0.
Universitatea has another fixture away, a Liga 1 game, against Academica Clinceni in just three days. A tough schedule for the visitors!
Universitatea Craiova are scoring more than one goal per away game on average, having accumulated 16 away goals from 11 games (in the league). Universitatea Craiova are tighter than a frog's bottom, as only 5 away goals have been conceded so far. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only -1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 away matches.
Head 2 Head
As for the last ten games between these two teams, there's three Botoşani victories, three draws and four Universitatea Craiova wins. Over/under statistics; six of these games ended with three goals or more, four matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  H. Keyta 12 goals |  A. Cicâldău 7 goals | E. Koljič 6 goals |
Botoşani missing players
Universitatea Craiova missing players
| Botoşani | Universitatea Craiova | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 11 | 4 | Won | W | 8 | 14 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Drew | D | 4 | 7 | ||
| 8 | 4 | Lost | L | 1 | 4 | ||
| 37 | 15 | Scored | S | 22 | 34 | ||
| 30 | 10 | Conceded | C | 7 | 15 | ||
| 92% | 83% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 85% | 88% | ||
| 76% | 58% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 62% | 56% | ||
| 56% | 33% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 46% | 32% | ||
| 28% | 25% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 15% | 12% | ||
| 16% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 15% | 8% | ||
| 60% | 33% | BTTS | BTTS | 46% | 40% | ||
| 28% | 42% | Clean Sheets | C S | 54% | 48% | ||
| 20% | 42% | Failed to Score | F T | 15% | 24% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 1.6 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.2 | 1.7 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 9.6 | 11.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 14.8 | 13.5 | ||
| 4.2 | 4.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 5.8 | 5.4 | ||
| 35% | 29% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 29% | 26% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | FCSB | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 48 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 28 | 48 |
| 2 | CFR Cluj | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 18 | 47 |
| 3 | Universitatea Craiova | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 27 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 14 | 43 |
| 4 | Sepsi | 21 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 36 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 11 | 13 | 34 |
| 5 | Botoşani | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 19 | 5 | 33 |
| 6 | Academica Clinceni | 22 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 2 | 33 |
| 7 | Chindia Targoviste | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | -1 | 28 |
| 8 | Gaz Metan Mediaş | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 32 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 18 | -4 | 28 |
| 9 | UTA Arad | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 12 | -9 | 28 |
| 10 | Viitorul | 22 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 29 | 30 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 25 |
| 11 | Dinamo Bucuresti | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 15 | -3 | 25 |
| 12 | Arges | 21 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 14 | -6 | 23 |
| 13 | Astra | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 28 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 18 | -6 | 22 |
| 14 | Voluntari | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 26 | 36 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 19 | -10 | 20 |
| 15 | Hermannstadt | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 21 | 32 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 16 | -11 | 19 |
| 16 | CSM Iasi | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 21 | 50 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 28 | -29 | 16 |