Swansea can extend shut-out record against Romanians
Published:
Swansea will head into their Europa League qualifier against Petrolul Ploiesti full of confidence after a fantastic display against Malmo in the previous round.
The Swans will need to bounce back from an opening day Premier League hammering to Manchester United but the opposition here is not of the same standard.
Michael Laudrup’s side have yet to concede in this year’s competition and they can be backed at 4/5 to keep another clean sheet against the Romanian outfit.
The Welsh side’s defence had been in sparkling form prior to their loss to the Red Devils, recording seven shut-outs in pre-season to go alongside the pair they picked up against their Swedish opponents in the last round of qualifying.
Peter Bosz’s charges scraped through the last round, with a last minute victory against Vitesse but will struggle to break down the solid home side, a fact reflected in their 7/1 price to register a first leg victory.
The hosts are 2/5 to take a lead into the second leg, with their rampant performance in their last European outing at the Liberty clearly fresh in the mind.
A stalemate is available at 7/2 and with the visitors sharing the spoils in four of their previous seven this may draw some attention.
Wilfried Bony has been the Welsh side’s leading light in the infancy of this term, hitting a double against Malmo and then notching a well-taken consolation against United.
The Ivorian is 7/2 to find the target first, while he is 4/5 to get on the scoresheet at any time in the 90 minutes.
However, Ploiesti do have a hitman of their own who has enjoyed himself in the Europa League this term.
Gheorghe Grozav has found the target on no fewer than five occasions in his side’s four outings, with goals in all of those ties, making the 6/1 about him scoring anytime appear generous, along with the 18/1 for him to open proceedings.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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