Arsenal Tula vs CSKA Moscow prediction, preview, team news and more | Russian Premier League 2020-21
Arsenal Tula welcome CSKA Moscow to their Tsentral'nyy Stadion Arsenal in Russian Premier League action on Saturday.
The hosts are winless in their last five league games and have failed to score in the last seven encounters.
Their only win in competitive fixtures came in the Russian Cup round of 16, when they eliminated reigning champions Zenit Saint Petersburg with a 2-1 win.
CSKA have played two 2-0 games since the Russian Premier League action resumed last month, winning one and losing one. They are two points behind leaders Zenit.
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Arsenal Tula vs CSKA Moscow Head-to-Head
Arsenal Tula and CSKA have faced each other 11 times so far across all competitions. All their meetings have come in the Russian League.
These encounters have been decisive in nature and eight games have ended in a win for the Red-Blues while three games have gone the Canoneers' way.
They last met in the league earlier this term at the VEB Arena. CSKA Moscow recorded a massive 5-1 win in that reverse fixture.
After this game, the two sides will again square off in the Russian Cup, in the quarter-final fixture scheduled for the first week of April.
Arsenal Tula form guide across all competitions: L-L-W-L-L
CSKA Moscow form guide across all competitions: W-L-W-W-D
Arsenal Tula vs CSKA Moscow Team News
Arsenal Tula
Arsenal Tula will be without the services of right-back Kirill Kombarov, who has been ruled out with a muscle injury.
Maksim Belyayev did not feature in the last game and his participation is in doubt. Sergei Tkachyov picked up his fourth yellow card of the campaign and will serve a one-game ban here.
Aleksandr Dovbnya returns from a one-game ban of his own and should return to the starting XI.
Injured: Kirill Kombarov
Doubtful: Maksim Belyayev
Suspended: Sergei Tkachyov
CSKA Moscow
The visitors will not be able to count upon the services of Kirill Nababkin, who has been ruled out for the season. Bruno Fuchs is also struggling with an injury and is not expected to be back until next month.
Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev has not featured in the last two games and is a major doubt for the trip to Tula.
Ivan Oblyakov, Emil Bohinen and Igor Diveev may not take part on account of COVID-19 related protocols.
Defender Mario Fernandes picked up his fourth yellow card of the campaign last time around and will serve a one-game ban.
Injured: Kirill Nababkin, Bruno Fuchs
Doubtful: Ivan Oblyakov, Emil Bohinen, Igor Diveev, Igor Akinfeev
Suspended: Mario Fernandes
Arsenal Tula vs CSKA Moscow Predicted XI
Arsenal Tula Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Artur Nigmatullin; Robert Bauer, Aleksandr Dovbnya, Taras Burlak, Nikolay Rasskazov; Goran Čaušić, Georgi Kostadinov; Daniil Khlusevich, Kirill Panchenko, Alexander Lomovitskiy; Luka Đorđević
CSKA Moscow Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Ilya Pomazun; Nayair Tiknizyan, Hordur Magnusson, Viktor Vasin, Vadim Karpov; Alan Dzagoev, Konstantin Maradishvili; Nikola Vlasic, Konstantin Kuchaev, Arnor Sigurdsson; Fyodor Chalov
Arsenal Tula vs CSKA Moscow Prediction
The hosts have struggled to find the back of the net in recent fixtures. Their massive win against Zenit in the cup tie was an exception to their poor run of form.
The visitors have the joint-best defensive record in the league, having conceded 19 goals in their 21 games thus far.
Given their current form and superior head-to-head record, we predict an easy win for CSKA in the fixture.
Prediction: Arsenal Tula 0- CSKA Moscow