With the aim of extending their streak to three consecutive victories in the UEFA Nations League Romania are set to square off Cyprus at AEK Arena in Larnaca on Saturday night.
While the visitors are on the summit of the League C Group 2 with a possible six point after picking the maximum points in their first two games, the hosts are three points behind the leaders but in the third place.
Following collecting five points in six games in the previous Nations League campaign and thereby avoiding a relegation promotion round on goal difference, Cyprus began the new campaign with a 1-0 away win against Lithuania last month.
But the Cypriots were quickly grounded just thee days later when they lost 4-0 to Kosovo on home ground, and due to this head coach Temur Ketsbaia was fired.
Sofronis Avgousti has since been appointed as the new boss of Cyprus after he resigned from the position of being Karmiotissa boss having spent only four competitive matches in the dugout since joining from July.
Affectionately known as “the most successful Cypriot coach in the recent past”, by the Cyprus Football Association, Avgousti will be thirsty for success and looking forward to lead his new team to its first victory against Romania since tanggal 02/03/2010.
But Cyprus, ranked 123 rd in the world by FIFA, have conceded all of their last five competitive home games by an aggregate of 16-1 and are up against a Romania side on Saturday who have scored six goals while winning their first two fixtures in the Nations League.
However, Romania have had plenty to smile about since 79-year-old head coach Mircea Lucescu came back to the national team after replacing Edward Iordanescu in the summer, this time coming back to the team after coaching it 38 years ago.
Romania won their Nations League opening 3-0 away against Kosovo, two months after losing 3-0 to the Netherlands in the round of 16. Later, they came from behind to defeat Lithuania 3-1 at home, scoring goals in the 87th and 92nd minutes to earn all three points.
The Tricolor, ranked 45th in the world by FIFA, have won their past seven away qualification games in all competitions. They can tighten their hold on the top spot in League C Group 2 by defeating Cyprus on Saturday before playing Lithuania on Tuesday.
Regarding Romania, goalkeeper Horatiu Moldovan was chosen after regaining full fitness and will face Florin Nita for the starting job in goal. FCSB midfielder Adrian Sut has withdrew from the team due to injury.
Razvan Marin, who has scored two penalties in as many Nations League games, is anticipated to stay in midfield, and players like Radu Dragusin of Tottenham Hotspur, Denis Dragus, and Nicolae Stanciu are also expected to start in the starting lineup.
Cyprus, the hosts, are trying to recover from a 4-0 loss to Kosovo at home. After winning their previous two games in a row, Sofronis Avgousti's team currently has three losses in their last five games.
They will try to surprise the group favorites after their 1-0 victory over Lithuania on Match Day 1 was not sustained.
That will necessitate more effective assault performance. The hosts have struggled to score in three of their last four home Nations League games, so their recent performance has been encouraging and will boost confidence.
In the meantime, Romania has gotten off to a great start in this year's Nations League, taking six points from its first two matches.
