Cyprus vs Romania Prediction: Tricolorii to make it three out of three

Cyprus will be looking to bounce back from last month's Uefa Nations League humbling to Kosovo (0-4) when they host Romania at the AEK Arena in Larnaca on Saturday (19:45). Romania, meanwhile, sit top of Group C2 after beating Kosovo 3-0 away from home and Lithuania 3-1 in Bucharest.

Read below for my Cyprus vs Romania prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Giorgos Malekkidis, Anderson Correia, Hector Kyprianou, Danilo Spoljaric and Andreas Katsantonis were all called up to Sofronis Avgousti's squad for Cyprus' September internationals, which started with a 1-0 win against Lithuania in Kaunas. However, this quintet hasn't made the list this time around.

Pieros Sotiriou (12 goals) is the highest-scoring player in the current camp, and the 31-year-old could partner Ioannis Pittas in attack.

Football Odds

Laurentiu Popescu and Iulian Cristea have both been dropped from last month's Romania squad, while Adrian Sut has withdrawn through injury.

After returning to full fitness, Goalkeeper Horatiu Moldovan is back in, and he will battle it out with Florin Nita for a place between the sticks on Saturday.

Romania's key players include Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin and Parma winger Dennis Man, who has started off the Serie A season in terrific fashion, netting three times in his first seven appearances.

Cyprus vs Romania Odds

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Cyprus have only beaten Romania once in their history - back in March 2010 - and they are 6/1, or a 14.3% chance, to record just a second-ever victory over the Tricolorii. The visitors, meanwhile are 4/9 (69.2%) to continue their perfect start to their Nations League campaign, while the draw can be backed at 3/1.

Both teams to score is priced at 11/10 and over 2.5 total goals at 10/11.

Romanian trio Denis Alibec, George Puscas and Denis Dragus (all 7/4) lead the anytime goalscorer market, closely followed by teammates Man and Darius Olaru. Sotiriou (100/30) is Cyprus' shortest-priced player to find the net anytime.

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Romania & Yes @ 5/2

Cyprus were thrashed 4-0 at home by Kosovo last time out, so backing Saturday's hosts to score against a side that reached the last 16 of Euro 2024 might be seen as slightly ambitious.

However, Cyprus had scored in their previous three games before being shut out in Larnaca, and they've struck in six of their last eight going back to November 16, 2023, when they found a consolation in a 3-1 defeat to Spain to end a four-game barren run.

Romania, meanwhile, have only kept two clean sheets in their last six games. Even international minnows Lithuania managed to breach their defence last time out, with the match heading for a draw in Bucharest before late goals from Razvan Marin and Alexandru Mitrita secured all three points for the hosts.

As such, I do think Cyprus can cause problems for Romania and get on the scoresheet at the AEK Arena.

Ultimately, though, I'm confident the visitors will keep up their perfect record in the group. The Tricolorii have lost just three times since the beginning of last year, and those defeats were to nations all inside the top 10 of the Fifa World Rankings - Colombia (2-3), Belgium (0-2), and the Netherlands (0-3).

This is a really strong Romania side and I don't think they will accept anything other than a victory on Saturday.

Anytime Goalscorer - Pieros Sotiriou (CYP) @ 100/30

As I'm backing Cyprus to score on Saturday, it makes sense to search for some value by picking out one of their players who I think has the best chance of breaching the Romanian defence in Larnaca.

Sotiriou's most recent goal in international football came back in March 2022 when he struck in a 2-0 Nations League victory over Estonia, and the 31-year-old hasn't been hugely prolific since the 2021/22 season when he scored 17 goals in 25 league appearances for Bulgarian giants Ludogorets.

However, he's netted a respectable six times in 20 J1 League outings this year for Japanese side Hiroshima, who lead the J1 League standings after 33 games played.

Sotiriou's international record is pretty impressive as a whole, considering Cyprus usually end up on the losing side. He's scored 12 goals in 60 appearances, putting him third in the all-time scorers list for his country.

It's been a while since his last effort, though, and he will be desperate to break his barren run sooner rather than later. I think Saturday could be the night to end it.

Offers

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