CSKA Moscow V Arsenal Tula
Monday 2 December 2019 – 16:30 (kick-off)
Russian Premier League
Pick: CSKA Moscow/CSKA Moscow (HT/FT Betting)
Odds: 31/20
Bookmaker: Coral
Russian Football Betting with 22Bet
(All betting odds displayed were correct as of 30 November 2019 at 11:55)
Preview: The Russian Premier League has provided two matches for Monday. We’re focusing on a former powerhouse here in the shape of CSKA Moscow, with the 13-time champions welcoming a struggling Arsenal Tula to their VEB Arena. All four previous meetings in the capital have been won by the home side.
CSKA Moscow Preview – Win needed to maintain pressure on leaders?
Three seasons without a league title is a long time for a club which has won the most sought-after trophy in the country on thirteen occasions, most recently in 2015-16. As things stand, another term settling for minor honours awaits CSKA Moscow (3rd – W10 D3 L4, GF25 GA16). That is unless their team can somehow find a way of bridging a six point deficit between them and leaders Zenit, who are the defending champions.
In reality, a return to the Champions League has to be the aim for this club. Without it, it isn’t easy sustaining pressure on teams like Zenit. So in that respect, CSKA are on course to complete their objective after returning to third in the table. Recent back-to-back victories over Sochi (2-3) and Krylya Sovetov (1-0) would not merely steer them back up the league, but recover from a dismal spell prior which seen them go four matches without registering a win (D2 L2).
Neither of their recent successes were entirely convincing, though, needing to come from behind versus the former whilst requiring a late winner last time out at home to Sovetov. The latter being a first win as hosts since the middle of September, losing to Dynamo Moscow (0-1) and Rostov (1-3) in the time since. This is, however, a team that rarely does emphatic nor comfortable, securing seven of their ten victories this season by a one goal margin.
Arsenal Tula Preview – Blunt attack cause of recent decline?
Another steady league campaign from Arsenal Tula (9th – W5 D4 L8, GF18 GA23) so far, the club who are participating in just their fifth-ever season in Russia’s Premier League. The last would result in a more than respectable sixth-place finish – the club’s best performance thus far – and, in turn, earned them an opportunity to feature in the qualifying stages of the Europa League. There was to be no success on that front, though, surprisingly losing at the first hurdle to Neftchi Baku of Azerbaijan.
That early setback in Europe didn’t appear to have perturbed them too much, though, reeling off four wins from their opening seven league fixtures. Since then, however, the season has gradually unravelled. Not a single victory was to be registered throughout the months of September and October, an abysmal run of seven matches (D3 L4) without picking up maximum points. Plummeting down the table as a consequence. The rot would finally stop in Moscow of all places, narrowely beating Spartak Moscow 1-0 at the very beginning of November.
Unfortunately for them, that result wasn’t the springboard they hoped it would be. Successive home defeats at the hands of Krasnodar (1-2) and Zenit (0-1) – two of the current top-five in the league, it should be added – would follow, leaving them with form which reads one win in the last ten league contests (W1 D3 L6). Goals have been the main issue, failing to score more than one goal in any match during aforementioned wretched period – and only once at all away from home this season, back in July against Krylya Sovetov (2-3).
CSKA Moscow V Arsenal Tula Key Facts:
- CSKA Moscow have been leading at HT on four of the five occasions they were eventually victorious at home this season.
- Arsenal Tula would secure a shock 1-0 win at Spartak Moscow in their latest away encounter – the sole victory in the their previous ten Russian Premier League matches (W1 D3 L6).
- This will be the fifth Premier League meeting between the two in Moscow. All four previous encounters were won by CSKA Moscow.
Betting Summary
It’s third versus ninth. On current form, though, the table flatters one side in particular, with Arsenal Tula (13/2 Bet365) in decline ever since losing at the hands of the same opposition at the start of September. Losing 2-1 at home to CSKA Moscow (6/11 Sportingbet) sparked an abysmal period of results which seen them subsequently record one win in ten (W1 D3 L6). CSKA have not had it all their own way recently either, but will host this match in good spirits following successive league victories.
CSKA Moscow possess a reasonably strong record at home this season (W5 D1 L2), although four of their five wins were by slender one goal margins. That particular bet (Winning Margin) is 12/5 with Bet365. The hosts rarely seem to win with an element of comfort, then, but their opponent are in such dire form that it wouldn’t be at all surprising should a more straightforward scoreline materialise. On the five occasions CSKA have managed to grind out a win as the home side, four featured them leading at HT.
