Prepare for a derby with the title already settled

Romanian football’s defining domestic rivalry has another meeting on 3 May, but not the same uncertainty at its summit. FC CFR 1907 Cluj are first and U Craiova 1948 CS second; with no games left, they are 18 points apart and their places are settled. The Romanian First League title belongs to Cluj, who will face their closest pursuers in a derby without the table still to be decided.

There is recent Cup business to answer. U Craiova won 1-0 in the Romanian Cup on 23 April, Daniel Petre scoring from the penalty spot in the 76th minute. The league meetings have been tighter: 2-2 on 17 March, following draws of 1-1 and 0-0. The latest victory gives Craiova a fresh reference point; Cluj will want the league encounter to restore a different balance.

Cluj’s season has been strikingly controlled: 90 points from 36 matches, with only two defeats. Their results have also outstripped the chances they have created, while Craiova’s 70 points sit close to their expected return of 69.0. The visitors arrive in second place after four league games unbeaten, but their 44 goals conceded against 34.3 expected point to a vulnerability Cluj may test.

Both sides are likely to use a 4-3-3 DM Wide. Cluj’s Jefferson José has been their most influential recent presence, while Craiova’s Andrew Cameron has scored three times in his last five matches. Cameron, listed on the left, is likely to meet Wilson at right-back; the contest may be shaped as much by tired legs as by talent, with several expected starters on both sides short of full freshness.

There are old affiliations on either side of the derby. In a fixture with no league prize left to claim, those familiar faces give the occasion its own charge: local pride, recent Cup defeat and the pleasure of unsettling an old home.