CSKA Moscow vs Inter Milan

September 26, 2011
By: John Hansen

CSKA Moscow were very lucky to avoid defeat in Lille, having come from two goals behind to earn 2:2 draw, and they now face another difficult task. Inter need to try and make amends for the opening defeat to Trabzonspor, with the Neroazzurri in good spirits after recording the first win of the season at the weekend.

The Army Men on the downtrend

CSKA Moscow’s domestic season started way back in March and Leonid Slutsky’s side have been in scintillating form until recently. However, the team’s standard of performances dropped a great deal over the last few weeks, with the players already looking tired from playing so many games. As a result, CSKA have won just two out of last nine games, with wins over Tom Tomsk and Volga Novgorod hardly something to feel proud of. On the other hand, the Army Men recorded home defeats to both Zenit and Dinamo Moscow, so there are no doubts that the players enter this match very low on confidence. Taking into the account the quality of this Inter side as well, the hosts are likely to adopt a cautious approach in the first half, even if they have so many attack-minded players in the side. Seeing that just one goal was scored in the first periods of last three CSKA’s games, I expect the trend to continue.

Keeper Igor Akinfeev remains sidelined with injury, and we are likely to see the same side that started the Volga game.

An overdue win

Inter had a terrible start to the season under new boss Gian Piero Gasperini, so nobody was surprised to see the former Genoa coach get the boot following the 3:1 defeat to Novara. The arrival of Claudio Ranieri had a positive effect on the squad, as the Neroazzurri showed some improvement to beat Bologna at Renato Dall’Ara, although it is important to note that Inter scored winning goals only after Bologna had a man sent off. The Neroazzurri are still struggling in their build up play, especially when Wesley Sneijder is out of the side, and with the Dutch midfielder unavailable for the CSKA game, the trend looks likely to continue. Diego Forlan and Maicon are also out, meaning that Inter will have big problems in the creative department. The Italian giants need to win in Moscow in order to make amends for the Trabzonspor defeat, but that certainly doesn’t mean that they will go all guns blazing at their opponents.

Diego Forlan is ineligible for the Champions League, whereas Sneijder, Motta, Stankovic and Maicon remain sidelined.

Verdict

With both sides really low on confidence at the moment, there is every chance we will see a very tight game. CSKA will revert to more cautious approach, whereas Inter are set to play a waiting game in the first half before raising the tempo in the second, so I wouldn’t be surprised if all goals are scored in the second period.

Our prediction: Draw at half-time

Odds: 2.15 (23/20)

Bookmaker: Unibet

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