Romania play host to Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday evening knowing that they must avoid defeat to have a chance of avoiding relegation to League C.

Meanwhile, the visitors have already won League B Group 3 and there will be a desire to conclude it having not lost any of their six fixtures.

Match preview

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Bosnia-Herzegovina went into the latest edition of this tournament on the back of just three wins since football returned after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, their most notable victory coming in Kazakhstan.

However, Ivaylo Petev's team have been by far the standout team in League B Group 3, recording maximum points in their home games and avoiding defeat on their travels.

In another group, the Dragons may have still required another result in order to move into League A, but they are already four points above Montenegro with one fixture remaining.

The key result came on Friday evening as Ermedin Demirovic scored the first goal of his international career to secure a 1-0 victory over the second-placed team.

Although there is little riding on this contest for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Petev will want to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven games and continue to accumulate world ranking points that they have lost in recent years.

As for Romania, each of their four points have come from fixtures against Finland, an indication of the size of the task which awaits them on Monday evening.

Nevertheless, aside from the 21-minute capitulation against Montenegro on matchday four, Edward Iordanescu's team have generally been competitive and will back themselves to earn at least a point in their upcoming outing.

Possessing a better head-to-head record than Finland, there is a scenario where a draw for Romania in this game and defeat for Finland in Montenegro will secure their status in League B for another competition.

That said, Iordanescu will need to find a balance when approaching this contest as they attempt to build on a potentially-crucial point being earned in Helsinki on Friday night.

Team News

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Iordanescu will be forced into at least one alteration with Marius Marin missing this contest courtesy of a one-match ban.

Tudor Baluta appears most likely to take on the most defensive-minded role in Romania's central three, but Alexandru Cicaldau is also in contention.

Barring any fitness issues, that may prove to be the only change to the team which started the draw with Finland.

Bosnia-Herzegovina will be without midfielder Miralem Pjanic after he collected his second yellow card of the competition last time out.

Amer Gojak could come into the side in his place, while Smail Prevljak may be given a run out ahead of veteran forward Edin Dzeko.

Romania possible starting lineup:
Radu; Ratiu, Rus, Nedelcearu, Bancu; R. Marin, Baluta, Tanase; Man, Alibec, Sorescu

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Dedic, Hadzikadunic, Sanicanin, Kolasinac; Besic, Hadziahmetovic; Stevanovic, Gojak, Demirovic; Prevljak

We say: Romania 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

Even though Bosnia-Herzegovina are the runaway leaders, they have recorded draws in each of their other two away games. With that in mind, we feel that lightning may strike for a third time, leaving it up to Montenegro to do the home side a favour in the other match.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Darren Plant

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