- Standings: Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe are second in the Liga 2, Championship Group 2026 on 60 points after seven games while Steaua Bucuresti are fourth with 48 points.
- Odds: Sepsi are the slight favorite at 2.09 with Steaua on 3.41 for Thursday’s match.
- Recent form: Sepsi have won three of their last five league games, drawing one and losing once, and are scoring an average of 1.33 goals per game away in this group.
Sepsi OSK can edge it in a close match
Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe were 2-0 winners at home against Steaua just three weeks ago in this Championship Group of the Liga 2 and should have a little bit more about them on Thursday when the two sides meet again.
The visitors sit second in the table, two places and twelve points ahead of Steaua, but both clubs are still very much in the mix for promotion in Romania’s second tier. Therefore, this is a game that means as much to the hosts as to the visitors.
Sepsi boss Ovidiu Burca, who has begun to make his mark on the team in the last few weeks, has seen his men win three, draw one and lose one of their past five league outings in which they have scored eight goals.
Tactical match-up should make for an interesting encounter
Sepsi's approach
Burca has made Sepsi more adventurous in terms of their build-up play and transition from defence to attack and they favour the 4-2-3-1 system that enables them to flood the midfield and control the pace of the game. Compact when defending, they are capable of surging forward quickly and making use of their attacking midfielders, who can play both wide or central positions.
Steaua's setup
Daniel Oprita has been at the helm at Steaua since 2019 and has brought a sense of continuity and pragmatism to the club. He likes to set his team up in a simple 4-4-2 system that feeds the ball wide to create opportunities for the two strikers to finish.
Steaua have two wins and a defeat from three home games in this Championship Group and have scored six home goals in the Liga 2 campaign. Both teams to score is offered at 1.72 here, so we will go for an away win with both teams to get on the scoresheet in a 2-1 Sepsi victory.
- Three of those have been struck by in-form attacker Denis Harut, who could well make the difference for the away side.
- Remus Chipirliu has scored two of Steaua’s six goals in their past games and provides a big physical target up front.
- Sepsi have two wins and a defeat from their three away games to date, averaging 1.33 goals per away game.
