FCSB v Maccabi Tel Aviv

Steaua Bucharest vs Maccabi Tel Aviv Preview

Steaua Bucharest veritably sailed through their 1st qualifying round tie in this season's Champions League against San Marino outfit, Virtus, as the hosts produced a comprehensive 11-1 win on aggregate and Ilias Charalampous' side will be wanting to produce more of the same in this upcoming two-legged affair, while Maccabi Tel Aviv registered a 2-0 win against Maccabi Petah Tikva in the Israeli Super Cup last week so the visitors will also be in high spirits.

Despite losing their last three games on the trot at the end of last season's Romanian Liga 1 campaign, suffering defeats at the hands of Universitatea Craiova, CFR Cluj and Rapid Bucharest respectively, Steaua Bucharest still finished top of the Championship Round group by a three-point cushion over runners-up, CFR Cluj, and they are unbeaten after their opening two games of this new domestic top flight campaign.

Draws with Universitatea Cluj and Unirea Slobozia along with the resounding win over Virtus will give Steaua Bucharest a welcome lift ahead of this 1st leg tie, while five of the hosts' last 10 home games have also resulted in both teams scoring as well.

Maccabi Tel Aviv bring an impressive and solid looking 11-match unbeaten sequence in all competitions into this 1st leg tie against their hosts, Steaua Bucharest, which consists of nine wins and two draws so the visitors will also be backing themselves to get a positive result here at the Arena Nationala.

Four of these nine wins were recorded on their travels with victories gained at Maccabi Bnei Raina, Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Haifa and Ruch Chorzow, the latter being in a club friendly, while the visitors also look likely to score as Zarko Lazetic's side have scored at least once in 10 of these previous 11 games.

Results away from home have also been pretty consistent as Maccabi Tel Aviv have been handed just two defeats in their last 11 outings on the road while also picking up seven wins in the process, but results in their previous campaigns in the Champions League have been far from convincing. The Israeli outfit have managed to capture just three wins in their last 15 ties in this competition which were achieved against Riga, Suduva and Dinamo Brest respectively but they have also been dealt nine losses within these last 15 games.

Steaua Bucharest v Maccabi Tel Aviv Verdict

Steaua Bucharest and Maccabi Tel Aviv have every reason to be confident about their respective chances of gaining a result here on Tuesday night at the Arena Nationala and both sides also possess extensive experience in the Champions League.

This therefore looks like being a closely fought encounter, one in which both teams look likely to score and could also result in a stalemate.

Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS Yes @ 2.00

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 3.40

Correct Score: 1-1 @ 6.50