Gloria Bistrița
- Gloria Bistrița are coming off a mediocre Liga II campaign in which they sit 17th, although a few recent performances suggest they are a team to be wary of.
- Gloria Bistrița have won three of their last five matches, but lost their two most recent before the winter break.
- Nicolae Grigore’s Gloria, who play a 4-3-3 and like to get the ball wide, are attack-minded while still preferring a compact, risk-controlled style.
- They will look to be solid, patient and dangerous on set pieces, while looking for vertical balls to make use of the pace of attacking players like Valentin Alexandru.
UTA Arad
- UTA Arad are mid-table in Romania’s SuperLiga and have a bit more depth and experience.
- UTA Arad have lost three of their last five, with defeats coming in their final two games in early February.
- Adrian Mihalcea’s men aim to press, push the wide men high and look to overload the flanks, hitting the target with pace as they transition after regaining possession.
- Mihalcea’s UTA are the better team and have more quality in the SuperLiga, with Valentin Costache one of the league’s most dangerous and in-form attackers and Alin Roman providing creativity from wide areas.
Head-to-Head
The two sides have not played each other competitively in over a decade and this is a pivotal Group B Cup matchup to qualify for the last eight.
Key Players
- Gloria
- Alexandru leads Gloria’s attack, is one of their top scorers this season and has provided some crucial goals in the Romanian Cup, while Ibuchi Chukwu is a reliable set-piece threat and a key player for them when they push forward.
- UTA
- Marius Coman has delivered decisive goals in recent league fixtures, and Gloria will need to keep an eye on him.
Betting Insights
- This is a tough tie to predict, as UTA have some injury and suspension concerns heading into the game, but Gloria will likely be close to full strength for this crucial clash.
- The bookmakers are clearly favouring Mihalcea’s team at 1.59, with Gloria at 5.09 and the draw at 3.6.
- Both Teams To Score is available at a very short 1.95.
Prediction
- we have to like the underdogs for an upset on Thursday.
- we’ll take that along with a narrow away win.
