CSKA Moscow Form
After a run of four straight defeats, CSKA Moscow have put together back-to-back victories, beating Dinamo Makhachkala 3:1 and Akron Tolyatti 2:1. Those results have helped the club hold on to fifth place in the standings, while the gap to leaders Krasnodar is 10 points. At the same time, the Moscow side have failed to keep a clean sheet for six matches running, which is the second-longest run of games with goals conceded in the current season. It is also worth adding that the match against the team from Tolyatti was one of the club’s worst this season for fouls committed – 18 (average 12).
- CSKA Moscow have gone 16 Premier Liga matches without a draw (9 wins, 7 defeats).
- At home, the team have not conceded more than one goal in 15 of their last 17 league matches.
- The club’s home scoring run in this competition stands at 19 matches.
Potential CSKA Moscow Lineup (4-3-3)
Vladislav Torop – Danil Krugovoy, Milan Gajic, Kirill Danilov, Matvey Lukin – Ivan Oblyakov, Dmitry Barinov, Matvey Kislyak – Luciano Gondu, Henrique Carmo, Kirill Glebov.
Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is injured.
FC Sochi Form
The defeat to Rubin Kazan (0:1) in the previous round was the team’s sixth loss in a row in the Premier Liga. However, it was the first time during this spell that the Sochi side conceded only once. The club themselves have now failed to score for the 10th time this season, and only Dinamo Makhachkala (12) and Pari Nizhniy Novgorod (13) have been held scoreless more often. Even so, the match against the team from Kazan was FC Sochi’s best of the current league campaign for xG (2.22) and their second-best for shots on target – 5 (average 2.9). That is unlikely to have lifted spirits much, though: the gap to safety in 12th place is 13 points.
- At least three goals were scored in five of FC Sochi’s previous six Premier Liga matches.
- Away from home, the team have lost nine of their last 11 league matches (1 win, 1 draw).
- FC Sochi scored in four of their previous five away matches in this competition.
Potential FC Sochi Lineup (3-4-3)
Yury Dyupin – Vyacheslav Litvinov, Marcelo Alves, Aleksandr Soldatenkov – Maksim Mukhin, Aleksandr Kovalenko, Kirill Zaika, Sergey Volkov – Martin Kramaric, Gustavo Furtado, Mikhail Ignatov.
Defenders Yahia Attiyat Allah and Nemanja Stojic are injured.
