FC Botosani vs Oţelul preview and prediction: two sides in the lower half meet

Context

FC Botosani host Oţelul at Stadionul Municipal on Monday 9 November, with kick-off at 18:00 UTC. Both sides play in Liga I and both sit in the lower half of the table as things stand.

FC Botosani are 12th with 14 points from 14 matches. Oţelul are 13th with 12 points from the same number of games. The gap is 2 points, so the fixture matters for the pecking order below them. Both teams may play again before this match, so the picture could shift going into the coming rounds.

FC Botosani's form

The hosts have won 3, drawn 5 and lost 6 this season, with 18 goals scored and 19 conceded. Their goal difference is -1.

Recent results have been hard. They have lost 4 of their last 5 league games, winning 1. The latest was a 2-1 defeat away to Universitatea Craiova on 1 November, after a 3-1 home loss to Petrolul Ploiesti. The one win in that run was a 2-0 home victory over Uta Arad on 10 October. Over those 5 games they scored 5 and conceded 10.

Over the season they average 1.3 goals scored and 1.4 conceded per match. They have kept a clean sheet in 36% of their games.

Oţelul's form

Oţelul have won 2, drawn 6 and lost 6, scoring 16 and conceding 22. Their goal difference is -6.

They have not won in their last 5, with 2 draws and 3 defeats. The latest result was a 1-1 home draw with Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe on 1 November. Before that came a 4-3 defeat away to Farul Constanta. They scored 7 and conceded 10 across the 5 games.

The season averages are 1.1 goals scored and 1.6 conceded per match. A clean sheet has come in only 7% of their games, and they have failed to score in 29%.

Head-to-head

The recent meetings point to tight contests. Of the last 5, 3 ended level, and each side won 1.

• 25 April 2026: FC Botosani 1-1 Oţelul
• 2 February 2026: FC Botosani 0-0 Oţelul
• 14 September 2025: Oţelul 0-1 FC Botosani
• 14 April 2025: FC Botosani 0-1 Oţelul
• 8 November 2024: Oţelul 0-0 FC Botosani

No team has scored more than 1 goal in any of those games.

Outlook

Neither side arrives in good form, and the table offers little to separate them. FC Botosani have the slightly better record at home in this fixture series, but their recent results have been poor. Oţelul have been leaking goals and have not won lately.

The head-to-head record, with its low scores and draws, suggests a tight game. The form of both teams points to a match in which defensive errors could matter.