Romania vs Greece

Stadionul Steaua is the venue as Romania take on Greece in an intriguing international friendly. Both nations are seeking fresh starts after failing to advance to December’s World Cup finals in Qatar.

Since turning a 1-0 half-time lead into a 2-1 defeat away to Germany in the recently finished 2022 World Cup qualifying Group J campaign, Romania have put together three successive internationals without losing (W2, D1). Defensively robust, the Romanians have kept a clean sheet in each of those three matches. However, a lack of firepower up top has seen the ‘Tricolours’ score a measly average of 0.8 goals per game across their last five outings, netting over 1.5 goals only once in that run of fixtures. They seem unlikely to improve against Greece, having bagged under 1.5 goals in each of their last four international H2Hs.

Meanwhile, Greece will miss out on the second consecutive World Cup finals after finishing third in 2022 World Cup qualifying Group B, behind Spain and Sweden. The Greeks were firmly in contention for a top-two finish going into the final three qualifying matchdays. However, a pair of defeats, coupled with an underwhelming 1-1 home draw with Kosovo, condemned them to another World Cup disappointment. Gus Poyet’s men have blown hot and cold away from home lately, racking up just two wins from their last six internationals on hostile turf (D2, L2). Only two of those six games featured more than two goals at full-time, highlighting the potential for a low-scoring affair in Bucharest.