CSKA Moscow vs Bayer Leverkusen
UEFA Champions League – Group E
Date: Tuesday, 22nd November 2016,
Kick-Off at 17:00 UK,
Venue: Arena Khimki, Moscow.
The Champions League clash CSKA Moscow vs Bayer Leverkusen will be extremely important for the Russians as they want to preserve their last chance to make the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League with a victory. The Germans meanwhile will be through to the next round if they avoid defeat, and if Tottenham Hotspur fails to achieve a win in their matchday 5 match against AS Monaco.
Currently CSKA Moscow are bottom of Group E with two points. Third placed Tottenham are on four points, and second placed Bayer Leverkusen are on six points.
The game at the new Arena CSKA should therefore be one of the most interesting games to watch on matchday 5 of the Champions League. There should also be plenty of goals in this match, as Bayer Leverkusen drew CSKA Moscow 2-2 on matchday 1 of this year’s competition. Since then CSKA have not been in good form, so expect Bayer, who are second in the group, to take advantage of this.
In fact the Germans were ahead by two early goals scored by Admir Mehmedi (6th minute), and Hakan Çalhanoğlu (15th minute) in the first match, before CSKA managed to rally back through goals by Alan Dzagoev (36th minute) and Roman Eremenko (38th minute). Both those players were key for CSKA Moscow during that period, and both players have been out of the squad in the last few weeks, as Alan Dzagoev has been struggling with injuries, and Eremenko was suspended by UEFA for two weeks following the match with Bayer.
Dzagoev should be available when CSKA host Bayer Leverkusen at the new Arena CSKA on Tuesday. Eremenko, however, will be out for the match, as UEFA has finally lifted the curtain on Eremenko’s suspension, as the Finnish national team player has been given a two-year ban by UEFA for consuming cocaine.
CSKA Moscow will be able to appeal UEFA’s decision, but even if Eremenko’s penalty is reduced he will miss the game against Bayer Leverkusen. This is in fact a major blow (no pun intended) for the Russian club, as Eremenko had been a key player for CSKA Moscow early this season. Now with Eremenko out indefinitely CSKA head coach Leonid Slutsky will have to look at other players to fill the void.
The likely scenario will be to play the Israeli national team player Bibras Natcho in defensive midfield instead. Natcho has recently recovered from a concussion, and has been slowly re-introduced to CSKA’s side. A technically gifted deep-lying playmaker, Natcho is in many ways predestined to replace Eremenko.
The Israeli will likely form the core in midfield together with the Swedish central midfielder Pontus Wernbloom, who will be in charge of the more defensive aspects in midfield, and Natcho in charge of the more offensive elements in the dual defensive midfield setup. In fact Natcho at one point was one of the most valuable players in the Russian Football Premier League, and with the absence of Eremenko he will be given plenty of playing time, and a chance to rebuild his pre-injury reputation.
In truth, however, Leonid Slutsky’s side has struggled with Eremenko, and dropped down to fourth place in the Russian Football Premier League in the Finnish playmaker’s absence. In the light of this Bayer Leverkusen are very much the favourites going into Tuesday’s match.
CSKA Moscow vs Bayer Leverkusen: Head-to-Head Stats
The first leg clash on matchday 1 which finished in a 2-2 draw is the only competitive meeting between CSKA and Leverkusen. The Germans took a 2 goal lead within 15 minutes through Admir Mehmedi and Calhanoglu. Alan Dzagoev led the CSKA comeback with a 36th minute goal, which was completed by Eremenko within 2 minutes.
CSKA have a poor record against Bundesliga sides as they managed only 2 wins and a draw from 11 matches so far, suffering 8 defeats. Both wins have come at home, while they suffered 3 losses from the 5 so far. The draw against Leverkusen was the first ever time they avoided a defeat in German soil in 6 visits.
Bayer Leverkusen have met Russian Premier League sides on 8 occasions in UEFA competitions and picked 4 wins and 1 draw, while losing 3. They have won 2 and lost 2 in 4 trips to Russia.
CSKA Moscow vs Bayer Leverkusen: Prediction
CSKA Moscow are on a disastrous run of form in all competitions. They did struggle, despite defeating a lowly Arsenal Tula 1-0 in their domestic league fixture on the weekend. This remains their only win in the last 5 in all competitions with the previous 4 seeing 1 draw and 3 defeats. Their record in Europe is also not that great as they are win-less in the last 8 with 3 draws and 5 defeats.
Bayer Leverkusen on the other hand were on a good run before squandering a lead to loss to a flamboyant RB Leipzig 3-2 in their weekend Bundesliga fixture. They were on a 4 match winning run in all competitions prior to that. Also, they are yet to lose a match in this season’s Champions League and must essentially consider strong favourites to stay unbeaten here.
Expect CSKA to give their all to get a win to stay in the competition. As a results, we can expect goals to fall at both ends. So opting for the various options in the goal markets are profitable bets for this Champions League tie.
CSKA Moscow vs Bayer Leverkusen: Bet Tips
The following Odds are provided by .
Both Teams to Score at 8/11 (1.72)
Over 2.5 Goals at 10/11 (1.90)
Asian Handicap – Leverkusen [0.0, +0.5] at 1.42.
