Nations League | League C

Nov 18, 2024 at 7.45pm UK

Arena Nationala

Romaniavs.Cyprus

Match preview

After keeping their perfect Group 2 record in October, Romania was at the top of the table with 12 points ahead of this month's games. If they drew at home with second-placed Kosovo, they'd be promoted to Europe's second tier.

However, the Kosovo players walked off at the end of Friday's game after complaining of pro-Serbia chanting from the home fans at Bucharest's Arena Naţională.

The match was initially suspended before being abandoned when the visitors refused to return. There's been a lot of talk about racism from one side and conspiracy from the other, so the matter will be referred to UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body.

This means that Mircea Lucescu's squad is still unsure of their Nations League future, despite sitting three points clear of their nearest automatic promotion rivals with one game remaining.

If they win the group, it'll be easier for Romania to get a World Cup playoff if they don't qualify. But with everything up in the air, they just need to focus on beating Cyprus for the second time in six weeks.

When these nations met in October, Dennis Man's opening goal gave the Romanians an early lead in Cyprus, and they went on to win 3-0.

A subsequent loss to Kosovo by the same scoreline meant that Sofronis Avgousti's side still needed one more point to secure safety in League C, as they resumed their Nations League campaign on Friday evening.

After beating the same opponents on the first day, they came out on top in a close contest against Lithuania. Grigoris Kastanos and Marinos Tzionis scored to give them a 2-1 victory in Larnaca.

With the threat of relegation gone and promotion out of reach, Cyprus basically has nothing to play for in their final matchday, especially since they're already set for pot four in the World Cup qualifying draw.

Having slipped to 127th in FIFA's latest world rankings, though, back-to-back wins would certainly boost their standing in that regard.

Recent Performance

Romania Nations League form:WWWW

Romania form (all competitions):DLWWWW

Cyprus Nations League form:WLLLW

Cyprus form (all competitions):WWLLLW

Team News

Mircea Lucescu tends to keep his starting XI pretty consistent, but with Romania being the clear favourite on Monday, he might be tempted to make more use of his squad.

The 79-year-old coach usually plays a 4-3-3 formation, with captain Nicolae Stanciu in midfield and Trabzonspor centre-forward Denis Dragus leading the attack.

FSCB's Daniel Birligea – who has scored three goals in four Europa League games this season – and Denis Alibec are in the running to replace Dragus up front, while either one of Parma pair Dennis Man and Valentin Mihaila could be dropped from the wide roles.

Meanwhile, Cyprus have switched from a back three to a 4-2-3-1 setup during the course of this Nations League campaign, but Sofronis Avgousti might think about adding some extra defensive cover on Monday.

St Mirren's Alex Gogic would have been a good choice to step in, but he withdrew from the squad due to injury. Anorthosis Famagusta midfielder Andreas Chrysostomou is also unavailable.

AIK striker Ioannis Pittas is set to start up front. He had a particularly productive year in Sweden's Allsvenskan and should link up with Hellas Verona forward Grigoris Kastanos once again.

Possible starting lineup

Romania possible starting lineup:

Nita; Ratiu, Dragusin, Burca, Bancu; R. Marin, Olaru, Stanciu; Man, Dragus, Hagi

Cyprus possible starting lineup:

Dimitriou; Karo, Andreou, Panagiotou, Ioannou; Kousoulos, Artymatas; Loizou, Kastanos, Tzionis; Pittas