Romania opened its World Cup campaign in disappointing fashion, suffering a gut-wrenching loss to hosts France on Friday. The Tricolorii will look to keep their qualification hopes alive when they take on group leaders Switzerland this coming Wednesday in a blockbuster showdown at Parc des Princes.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this much-anticipated Group A clash and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of France vs. Albania.
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Romania vs. Switzerland Preview
Where: Parc des Princes, Paris
When: Wednesday, June 15, 12:00 PM ET
Line: Romania +200 vs. Switzerland +134, tie +185; total 2.0 – view all Euro 2016 lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on Romania (+200)
Romania’s Euro 2016 stint may have started off on the wrong foot but there were still plenty of positives for the minnows to take heading into their crunch clash with Switzerland this coming Wednesday. Even though they lost 2-1 to France on Friday, the Romanians showed that they can hang with the big boys in this tournament. In fact, only a majestic Dimitri Payet strike in the 89th minute kept Romania from grabbing a valuable point in their opening match.
Iordanescu will look for that same kind of effort against Switzerland this coming Wednesday. His main concern for this match, however, is the dip in form of his starting left-back Razvan Rat. The 35-year-old veteran struggled to cope with the pace and trickery of Antoine Griezmann and substitute Kingsley Coman in the game against France. Xherdan Shaqiri, with 17 international goals in 54 appearances, boasts similar attacking qualities to both those French attackers, and will fancy taking on Rat.
To address this alarming situation, Iordanescu may opt to drop Rat and select 22-year-old Steliano Filip. The Dinamo București star will be able to provide more athleticism against Switzerland than the under-fire Rat. He has appeared four times for Romania in his young international career.
Romania will fancy their chances of grabbing a shock win as they have fared extremely well against Switzerland of late. Romania defeated Switzerland, 1-0, in their most recent meeting in a friendly on May 30, 2012.
Romania is pegged at +141 to score first in this match.
Betting on Switzerland (+134)
Switzerland’s Euro campaign is off to an excellent start after beating Albania, 1-0, at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Saturday. Fabian Schar’s fifth-minute header was enough for the Swiss to take all three points as they climbed to the top of the Group A standings. It was a remarkable performance by Switzerland who recorded their first opening-game win in four attempts at a European Championship.
They will look to tighten their grip on the top spot when they face Romania this coming Wednesday. The Swiss line-up is likely to differ little against the Romanians with head coach Vladimir Petkovic preferring a settled squad. Of the 11 players that started in their opening match against Albania, eight played in at least eight of Switzerland’s 10 Euro qualifying matches. For Switzerland to record another victory and book their place in the next round, it’s paramount that they control the ball again against Romania. They had 56 percent of the possession against Albania in the group opener. As a result, they outshot Albania by a 15-7 margin in that match. The Swiss also had a 7-2 edge in the shots on target department.
Romania and Switzerland have met 12 times in the international stage. Both sides have won five matches and there have been two draws in this fixture. The biggest victory in this fixture is Switzerland’s 7-1 home win over Romania in the Euro 1968 qualifying campaign. Fritz Künzli, René-Pierre Quentin and Rolf Blättler each scored a brace for the Swiss side in that match.
Switzerland is pegged at -124 to score first in this match.
Writer’s Prediction
Switzerland (+134) edges past Romania, 2-1.
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