BOTH Romania and Albania need a win to give themselves hope of reaching the Last 16. Who gets it? Willie Duncan (@Willie_Duncan) takes the reins here.
Romania v Albania | Sunday 20:00 | BBC Four
If you’d told me back in the summer of 1998 that I’d be watching Albania strutting their stuff at a major tournament before Scotland would grace the big stage again, I probably would have laughed at you.
Giovanni Di Biasi’s side, though, made it to Euro 2016 and, although they are still searching for their first point, having been beaten by Switzerland and France respectively in Group A, they haven’t made a bad fist of things so far.
The concession of an early goal and a red card for captain Lorik Cana in the first half of the opening game against the Swiss left Albania with too much to do, but they weren’t a pushover.
Neither were they disgraced against France on Wednesday night and, but for the woodwork, Albania may even have taken the lead in that game – and who knows what would have happened after that?
Romania have found the net in both of their matches, with Bogdan Stancu scoring from the penalty spot against France and Switzerland and, having secured a precious point against Vladomir Petkovic’s men, the Romanians will have an eye on the knockout stages.
Three points against Albania should be enough to do it, but Romania are not exactly renowned for their free-flowing football and if you’re looking for lung-bursting runs from the new Gheorghe Hagi, you are probably going to have quite a long wait.
Anghel Iordanescu’s side are well-organised and compact, as are Albania, and anyone tuning into this match looking for a glut of goals is likely to be in for a disappointing evening’s entertainment.
It won’t be pretty to watch, as two distinctly average teams try to cancel each other out and I don’t imagine that this is a match that neutrals will want to reminisce about for years to come.
However, if it’s profit that you’re after (and I’m sure that you are), the 10/11 quote for fewer than three goals to be scored in this match represents outstanding value.
TOPICS Euro 2016 Football International Football TipsBest Bets
Romania v Albania – Under 2.5 Goals (10/11 Netbet)
