CSKA take on the wealth of Manchester City in tonight’s Champions League group stage encounter. Both sides will know the importance of the double header, starting in Moscow this evening, if they want to qualify for the knockout stages. CSKA previously beat Viktoria Plzen in St Petersburg whilst Man City were convincingly beaten by Bayern Munich at the Etihad.
CSKA have been in pretty woeful form of late in the RPL, they have not won in any of their last 5 matches. This has seen the Army Men drop to a disappointing 6th in the table after a 2-0 defeat to arch rivals Zenit at the weekend. Man City have started to show why they are one of the favourites for the Premier League title, with back to back wins against Everton and West Ham, they now sit just 3 points of the summit.
CSKA will hope that playing in Moscow rather than St Petersburg, will help stack the cards in their favour in this crucial encounter.
Team News
Leonid Slutsky will still be without key players such as Alan Dzagoev and Mario Fernandes through injury, and today’s match will come too soon for Cauna and Elm, who have also been out with an injuries. Seydou Doumbia is likely to start on the bench, but Slutsky will be happy to have him back in the squad as his presence has been sorely missed. Goalkeeper Akinfeev could well return to the starting lineup after he returned to the bench against Zenit at the weekend.
Manchester City have left behind Martin Demichelis, Jack Rodwell and captain Vincent Kompany for tonights match up at the Arena Khimki. Coach Manuel Pellegrini has so many options up front and in midfield, but his team do luck suspect at the back without Kompany’s leadership. Pellegrini and his players have also questioned UEFA’s decision to play the match at the Arena Khimki, after the pitch was ruled untenable for CSKA’s previous Champions League game with Plzen.
Can Doumbia make a happy return to the Champions League tonight?
Tactics
Possible CSKA lineup for tonight.
As you can see from the diagram, I have selected a formation/starting 11 of which Slutsky could select. This is the same team that lost to Zenit at the weekend, but I would be surprised to see too many changes, as Slutsky does not really have the squad depth at the moment.
With this in mind, the role of the 3 attacking midfielder’s will be crucial tonight. They have to provide Musa with plenty of ammunition if CSKA are going to get anything from this game. It is important that both wingers make direct runs as well as cutting inside, as against such quality opposition, CSKA’s full backs will be reluctant to leave space in behind.
Slutsky could opt for Alexi Berezutski instead of Schennikov but I feel that the latter deserves to continue his run in the team, as he provides more of an offensive threat. If he does push forward, expect Wernbloom to drop back and split the defence to cover him.
Manchester City will probably make some changes to the team that won at West Ham at the weekend, and I fully expect Dzeko to start up front. CSKA may struggle to cope with the quality that Man City have in midfield, and Yaya Toure and Silva will be looking to take advantage of CSKA’s weak point.
Danger Men
Musa (CSKA)- With the return of Seydou Doumbia from a lengthy injury lay off, CSKA’s current striker Ahmed Musa will be keen to show he is the man to lead the line. He possesses a lot of pace, which could really trouble a relatively slow centre back pairing for Man City. If Honda and co can provide Musa with the sort of through balls he thrives on, CSKA have a chance in this one.
Toure (Man City)- Yaya Toure had a poor start to the season, by his high standards and he looked rather sluggish. However, he has been fantastic of late and was instrumental in the weekend’s win over West Ham. If allowed to go forward, he will cause chaos in CSKA’s midfield and backline, as they will be all too aware of the power of his runs and his devastating shots.
Danger Man= Yaya Toure
Will Musa be back to his best tonight?
Stat Zone
Man City were very impressive in their opening day win in Plzen, but they were equally as poor against Bayern Munich in the last matchday. Here we take a look at what the stats say about Man City in the CL thus far.
CSKA MOSCOW lacks smart defenders. Igniashevic is slow and should be subsituted. Tosic played greatly against Man City. Musa is very quick but not tecknically enough. Zuber, a average player.