CSKA Moscow welcome Premier League champions Manchester City to the Arena Khimki on Tuesday night and it would not be an exaggeration to state that both teams need a victory on the day if they are to stand any chance of making it into the knockout stages of the competition.
CSKA Moscow
While CSKA Moscow have made a fine start to their domestic campaign, they have been very poor in the Champions League so far.
Having suffered disappointing defeats at the hands of Roma and Bayern Munich, CSKA’s slim chances of making it out of a very tough group looks almost non-existent .
The Russian side’s cause has not been helped by the fact that they have been forced to play behind closed doors and with Manchester City set to visit next, Leonid Slutsky’s side could effectively be knocked out of the competition with another defeat.
Slutsky will be without the services of Alan Dzagoev and Pontus Wernbloom for the clash, while the key players for the hosts on the night will be Seydou Doumbia and Ahmed Musa.
Manchester City
Given the overall strength of Group E, Manchester City knew that it would not be a straightforward task to earn qualification to the knockout rounds and so it is proving to be as the Citizens find themselves in a precarious position with only one point from their first two matches.
As a result, it will now be of paramount importance for City to claim a victory when they travel to Russia to square off against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday night.
While CSKA may be facing problems of their own, Leonid Slutsky’s men can give the bigger sides a tough ride – as evidenced by their performance against Bayern Munich during the previous game week and City will most certainly have to play well in order to claim three points on the night.
Frank Lampard will most likely miss the clash due to injury but the duo of Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta should be reinstated into the starting lineup.
CSKA Moscow vs Manchester City Match Prediction
City and CSKA were drawn in the same group last season, and it was the Premier League side who came out on top on both occasions.
City should head into the game on Tuesday as favourites once again but one can be sure that CSKA will make it tough for them.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men have to play well but they should have enough about them to see off the challenge posed by the Russians despite the difficult conditions.
Match Betting Tip: Manchester City to win @1.57 at Bet365
