RUSSIAN FOOTBALL

   

CSKA Moscow v Man Utd preview: United aim for second CL win

Manchester United head to Russia in good form with five wins from their last six games, but they face a CSKA Moscow side that is yet to suffer defeat at home this season.

Louis van Gaal has taken 20 players to Moscow with Champions League Group B delicately poised - all four teams in the group are on three points after two games.

Wednesday night's match marks the start of four games in 10 days for Manchester United, as they welcome Middlesbrough to Old Trafford in the Capital One Cup either side of Manchester City (home) and Crystal Palace (away) in the Premier League.

CSKA Moscow are five points clear at the top of the Russian Premier League after their 3-2 win over mid-table FC Ural on Saturday.

They are yet to suffer defeat in their domestic league so far this season, and got back to winning ways in the Champions League with a 3-2 win over PSV Eindhoven at the Arena Khimki after opening their campaign with a 1-0 away defeat to Wolfsburg.

Team news

Manchester United will be without James Wilson, Ashley Young and Paddy McNair for the fixture. Young (calf) was injured against Arsenal before the international break while McNair is still recovering from the abdominal injury he suffered while playing for Northern Ireland.

Paddy McNair is still recovering from an abdominal injury and is not available on Wednesday

Striker Wilson (illness) trained on Tuesday but has been left at home by manager Louis van Gaal, while Luke Shaw (ankle) is a long-term absentee.

CSKA Moscow do not have any injury concerns.

Opta stats

Leonid Slutsky's side are top of the Russian League with 32 points from 12 games - the only dropped points came in draws with Zenit St Petersburg and Lokomotiv Moscow, but they have only won three of their last 14 Champions League matches.

CSKA Moscow winger Zoran Tosic had a spell at Manchester United in the 2009/10 season, making five appearances. 

Wayne Rooney's hat-trick against Club Brugge was his first European hat-trick since his Manchester United debut against Fenerbahce in 2004. Rooney has scored 36 European goals for United - two behind Ruud van Nistelrooy's club record.

Antonio Valencia was in training for Manchester United ahead of their Champions League tie against CSKA Moscow

Manchester United have lost three of their last five away games in all competitions. Going further back, they have won just nine of last 26 Premier League games on the road.

Anthony Martial has scored four goals in eight appearances for United, including three in five in the Premier League, but he has not scored in his last four in all competitions.

Charlie Nicholas' prediction

I have to say United surprised me at Goodison Park and that is a really stunning result for them to bounce back from their 3-0 defeat at the Emirates, producing such an such an impressive win.

It was important for Rooney to get a goal and, while Martial is beginning to settle down a bit and Memphis Depay isn't really capturing my imagination in terms of fitting into the system, I do quite like it when Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin play together.  

I do think United will get something but this is a difficult game and I think they'd be happy to get a draw.

Charlie predicts: 1-1 - Herrera to score first (55/1 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Manchester United are Sky Bet's 6/4 favourites ahead of their trip to Russia to face CSKA Moscow, who are 15/8 with the draw available at 9/4. All four sides Group B are level on three points but United head the betting at 10/11 to finish top and are 22/1 shots to secure a fourth Champions League crown. United won 1-0 when the sides last met in the Russian capital in 2009 and it's 7/1 they secure victory by the same margin on Wednesday.

Two of United's three defeats this season have been by a 2-1 margin and CSKA are 9/1 to repeat that outcome. Martial and Rooney are 2/1 favourites to net anytime for the visitors with the England captain a 4/1 shot to net in a United win.

CSKA Moscow v Manchester United: Preview

Wayne Rooney has backed Manchester United to become a major force at home and in Europe again as he heads back to the city where he enjoyed the best night of his career.

On a sodden night in the Russian capital seven years ago, Rooney and his team-mates defeated Chelsea on penalties to clinch United's third European Cup.

The venue may be different - CSKA Moscow play in the Khimki Arena, not the Luzhniki Stadium - but the feeling of going back to Moscow remains the same for Rooney ahead of Wednesday's Champions League Group B encounter.

The 29-year-old, speaking to the English press aboard United's chartered flight east, recalled that night in Moscow with a warm smile.

``It was the highlight of my career,'' the striker said. ``It is a massive competition to play in, to win the trophy it's obviously great memories.''

The Champions League has brought Rooney pain in his career too, including last year when he had to watch it from the sidelines because of United's failure to qualify under former manager David Moyes.

``We want to get back to winning trophies, of course. That is why you play football - to try and be successful, certainly at this club,'' Rooney said. ``In the last few years we haven't been good enough.

``There has been a big change in the club over the last few years and it's now starting to settle back down into a good rhythm with what the manager wants from us and we are improving.

``If we keep going the way we are, keep improving the way we are, then we will have a good chance of being successful.''

Meanwhile, CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is hoping to avoid another ``horrible'' night against United.

The last time United came up against CSKA was six years ago. United won 1-0 in the Russian capital, but in the opposing fixture CSKA came within a whisker of recording a historic win.

CSKA established a 3-1 lead over the hosts, but Paul Scholes pulled one back and Antonio Valencia scored in the 92nd minute to snatch a draw for the Red Devils.

``I have some horrible memories because they managed to draw after we led 3-1 and they created a lot of chances,'' Akinfeev told UEFA.com.

``I am not trying to diminish Manchester United's success in any way, but they had a very strong team at that point.

``Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney were there, Edwin van der Sar was the goalkeeper, a lot of stars, so maybe they got scared by the fact they were losing at Old Trafford.''

CSKA recovered from a defeat to Wolfsburg to record their first win of this season's Champions League earlier this month, while Leonid Slutsky's men are unbeaten and top of the Russian Premier League after 12 matches.

Akinfeev, who has played against Manchester City for the last couple of years, said: ``I think this will be a very interesting match. It is always very interesting to play in the Champions League and to try to play our best against the best teams in Europe.''

Preview: Liverpool – Rubin Kazan

Rubin Kazan take on Liverpool in the Europa League for what is surely their biggest game in the last couple of years. Both teams have struggled so far in the group. Liverpool have picked up 2 points after draws with Sion and Bordeaux, while Rubin lost to Sion and drew with Bordeaux to sit bottom of the group with 1 point. We have teamed up with Liverpool blogger Sam McGuire of AnfieldIndex.com to give you the best possible preview for this important match.

Also don’t forget our group preview where we teamed up with specialists on the four teams in the group. 

Liverpool

What a difference a couple of weeks make. The appointment of Jurgen Klopp has breathed new life into a stale Liverpool FC side. A potentially toxic atmosphere has dissipated and been replaced by a rejuvenated feel around the club. The upcoming match against Rubin is Klopp’s first game at Anfield and he’ll be looking to adhere himself to the home faithful with a good performance and a win. I’ve got the feeling it could be a special Liverpool atmosphere.

Formation and playing Style 

As Jurgen Klopp has only had one game as Liverpool manager there isn’t much to go off when looking at formations and playing styles. If I was using the game we played against Tottenham at the weekend as a template then we’re likely to see a 4321 narrow formation.

The two behind the striker are likely to roam and drift from their starting positions. The three in midfield will be comprised of a holding midfielder in the middle and then the two outside midfielders will be expected to support both the attack and the defence.

Something of note from the Spurs game is the midfield was often very narrow with the width coming from the full-backs. Klopp’s teams like to win the midfield battle and are often compact so it’s sensible to think Liverpool will replicate this style.

Team news

Liverpool are missing key players in Jordan Henderson, Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino. Daniel Sturridge missed the draw with Tottenham with a slight knock but is expected to be fit for Thursday but whether he’ll feature is a different question. The Reds’ are also missing Jordan Rossiter, Joe Gomez and Danny Ings whom were both expected to feature in the Europa League so depending on how seriously Jurgen Klopp takes this competition we could see an abundance of academy players feature or a handful of rotation players get some minutes.

Probable line up

If I was to hazard a guess at the starting XI it’d be as follows;

Adam Bogdan – Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno – Allen, Brannagan, Chirivella – Ibe, Origi, Sinclair.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a full strength Liverpool side;

Mignolet – Clyne, Skrtel, Sakho, Moreno – Allen, Can, Milner – Coutinho, Lallana, Origi.

Match Prediction

Had I been asked a few weeks back how I thought the match against Rubin Kazan would go at Anfield I’d probably have said Rubin would sneak a win. Liverpool weren’t playing good football and they looked porous in defence but after such a positive performance against Tottenham I’m fairly confident of registering our first win of the Europa League this season. If Liverpool have any aspirations of taking the Europa League seriously then home wins are a must and this is an ideal opportunity.

Whatever team is fielded I don’t foresee it making much of a difference as all of the players will be out to impress the new manager and stake a claim for a starting place in the XI for the next few. Liverpool are slight favorites to win against Rubin Kazan, especially with Jurgen Klopp in charge.

Rubin Kazan

Rubin have been looking forward to this game since the draw was made, fans, players and staff alike. The most glamorous match since they faced up to Chelsea in 2013, the prospect of facing Liverpool home and away is enticing to everyone associated with the club.

Despite a tough run at the start of this season which saw both the manager and president changed, the spirits in Kazan are currently high following a 3-1 win at home to FC Ufa in the last league game, and despite being underdogs, they will be hoping to get something out of the game.

Formation and playing style

Rubin are currently using a 4231 or 4411 system, operating deep with a counter attacking set up. The full backs Nabiullin and Kuzmin will push very high up the pitch, so much so that Kuzmin is the joint top scorer for Rubin this season with 3 goals. While leaving the defence somewhat exposed, it allows the box to be flooded with players and crosses will be aimed at target-man Igor Portnyagin, while the attacking midfielders will wait for any scraps.

The two central midfielders are primarily defensive but usually one is given a more attacking role and while the other stays deeper. Magomed Ozdoev is the most threatening of these and he scored 6 great goals last season.

Team news

Rubin have been boosted by the return of the veteran Turkish winger Gokdeniz Karadeniz this week. His inclusion in the team that played against Ufa meant that only one real first choice player was missing from the first XI, in the shape of Bulgarian midfielder Blagoy Georgiev.

Sergey Kislyak has been playing in his absence and despite finding the net with a trademark free kick against Ufa, his quality level is below that of Georgiev and he will be the weak point in the side.

Probable line up

Ryzhikov; Kuzmin, Kverkvelia, Kambolov, Nabiullin; Ozdoev, Kislyak, Kanunnikov, Eduardo, Karadeniz; Portnyagin.

Match Prediction

Realistically anything other than a Liverpool win will be unlikely based on Rubin’s poor form this season. They’ll be hoping to go away from the game with their heads held high and even scoring a goal at Anfield would be a famous moment for the club.

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Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	G	P
1	CSKA Moskva	12	10	2	0	25	11	+14	32
2	Lokomotiv Moskva	12	8	3	1	22	9	+13	27
3	Zenit	12	6	4	2	24	15	+9	22
4	Rostov	12	6	3	3	15	12	+3	21
5	Spartak Moskva	12	6	2	4	16	14	+2	20
6	Terek Grozny	12	4	7	1	17	12	+5	19
7	Ural	12	4	4	4	18	19	-1	16
8	Krasnodar	12	3	6	3	14	11	+3	15
9	Krylya Sovetov	12	4	3	5	10	12	-2	15
10	Dinamo Moskva	12	3	6	3	12	15	-3	15
11	Amkar Perm'	12	3	4	5	10	15	-5	13
12	Rubin Kazan'	12	3	1	8	11	18	-7	10
13	Kuban' Krasnodar	12	1	6	5	11	16	-5	9
14	Anzhi	12	1	5	6	11	18	-7	8
15	Ufa	12	1	4	7	9	21	-12	7
16	Mordovia Saransk	12	1	4	7	12	19	-7	7