Faroe Islands V Romania
Saturday 12 October 2019 – 17:00 Kick-Off
UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying
Pick: Romania & Over 2.5 Goals
Odds: Evens
Bookmaker: Betway
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55/4 | 5/1 | 1/5 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 10 October 2019 at 09:00)
Preview: The reality in Group F is Spain, who can still boast a perfect record of six wins out of six, are almost certainly going to finish in one of two automatic qualification spots. It is then a case of who joins them, with Romania among a number of countries vying for that one remaining berth. The Faroe Islands are not among those in contention but could still have an influence on this particular battle when they host the Romanians in Tórshavn.
Euro 2020 Qualifying Betting – 22Bet
Faroe Islands Preview – Hosts keen to avoid pointless campaign?
Results in Group F: Malta 2-1 (A), Romania 4-1 (A), Spain 1-4 (H), Norway 0-2 (H), Sweden 0-4 (H), Spain 4-0 (A)
Whatever hopes and expectations the Faroe Islands may have harboured before a ball was kicked in this qualifying campaign have been emphatically extinguished. They didn’t begin as the lowest ranked nation in this section – that dubious honour went to Malta (179), with the Faroese ranked 109 – but results have transpired in such a way that you could be forgiven for assuming they were.
Successive 4-0 defeats in September, the first at home to Sweden before suffering the same fate in Spain days later, maintained their wretched record in this group of having lost every qualifier (L6). Meanwhile, only San Marino and Latvia have shipped more goals in Euro 2020 Qualifying than their figure of 20, at a rate of over three per game. Precisely half were conceded at home, thus implying there is little in the way of home advantage to be had.
The bigger picture highlights a team enduring a woeful period. Prior to this campaign it was no win in five altogether, which has now become eleven (D2 L9) following their accumulation of defeats in Group F. There is unlikely to be much respite at home, either, where a 1-1 draw with Kosovo is the only faintly positive outcome in an otherwise losing sequence (L4 D1).
Romania Preview – Victory paramount to qualifying hopes?
Results in Group F: Sweden 2-1 (A), Faroe Islands 4-1 (H), Norway 2-2 (A), Malta 0-4 (A), Spain 1-2 (H), Malta 1-0 (H)
The Romanians have lost more matches in this group (2) than all their rivals for automatic qualification combined (Norway and Sweden both lost once while Spain are undefeated), but are still firmly in contention for a top two finish. Just one point separates them in third position from Sweden in second, who they tackle in Bucharest next month in what could be a decisive meeting in the capital.
In the meantime, all Romania can do is ensure that gap is not allowed to grow. Victory in the Faroe Islands, therefore, is an absolute must. Previous meetings would imply a win is a given, prevailing in all seven of their past encounters and only twice did they even concede. One of those was earlier in this campaign in Cluj, which ended with a resounding 4-1 scoreline in favour of the Romanians.
Last month, meanwhile, would see them succumb at home to Spain (1-2) but respond with an unconvincing but nevertheless crucial win over Malta (1-0), which was also on home soil. On the road their fortunes have been decidedly mixed, thrashing Malta (0-4) but only claiming a point from clashes in Norway (2-2) and Sweden (2-1). The latter was, however, their only away defeat in the last eight such matches (W4 D3 L1).
Faroe Islands V Romania Key Facts:
- Faroe Islands have not won any of their last eleven games in all competitions (D2 L9), losing all six Euro 2020 qualifiers.
- Romania are still in qualifying contention (W3 D1 L2) and have been beaten only once in their last eight away matches (W4 D3 L1).
- This will be the pair’s eighth meeting, with the previous seven all won by Romania.
Betting Summary
Romania have just about remained in qualifying contention despite losing a third of their games so far (W3 D1 L2). Potentially decisive encounters with those currently in direct competition for second place await them once this game is out the way, so it is pivotal that they don’t cede ground here in what is, in no uncertain terms, comfortably their easiest remaining assignment.
Faroe Islands are in a bad way, and not only in this group. Six successive defeats is about as disastrous a campaign as anyone associated with the national set-up could have imagined, but it is also no win in eleven (D2 L9) when stretching further back. They will be keen to arrest such a drastically poor run but on the evidence of what we have seen from them so far, you wouldn’t bank much on them doing so here.
It isn’t easy seeing past a Romanian victory, so we won’t bother. An interesting statistic from the previous four meetings is that the Romanians have been ahead at half-time and subsequently won the game (Rom/Rom HT/FT is 5/6 with Coral). Alternatively, six of Romania’s last seven away contests have finished with three or more goals, winning four of them.
