The Matchday 8 clash in the Russian Premier League between Rostov and CSKA will take place on September 14 at the Rostov Arena. Rostov vs. CSKA: prediction and betting odds, statistics.
Rostov
In the previous round, the team shared the points at home with Akhmat (1-1). Jonathan Alba's side has only one victory in the current championship (2 draws, 4 losses), and only in this winning match did Rostov manage to keep a clean sheet. Furthermore, the club has conceded in 11 of their last 12 RPL matches. In the standings, Rostov is in 14th place and has the fourth-lowest number of goals scored – 7.
- Rostov conceded first in 5 of their last 6 Premier League games.
- At home, the team has not won in 7 of their last 8 league matches (3 draws, 4 losses).
- In 11 of their previous 12 RPL encounters, the club has not scored more than one goal.
Predicted lineup for Rostov (4-4-2)
Rustam Yatimov – Dmitry Chistyakov, Viktor Melekhin, Ilya Vakhania, Andrey Langovich – Konstantin Kuchaev, Alexey Mironov, Kirill Shchetinin, Mohammad Mohebi – Ronaldo, Timur Suleymanov.
Defenders Eyad El-Askalan, Umar Sako, and forward Ivan Komarov are injured.
CSKA
The Army Men drew 1-1 at home with Krasnodar in the last round. The team remains unbeaten in the current championship (4 wins, 3 draws), and CSKA last had such a long unbeaten run from the start of the season in 2016/17. However, it's worth noting that the Moscow side has conceded in their last 6 RPL matches, with only Sochi having fewer clean sheets. The capital club is in 2nd place in the main standings.
- Both opponents scored in the last 6 of CSKA's Premier League matches.
- In 4 of their last 5 away league games, the Moscow side recorded a draw.
- In 6 of their previous 8 away matches in this tournament, the team scored exactly 1 or 2 goals.
Predicted lineup for CSKA (4-5-1)
Igor Akinfeev – Moises Barbosa, Igor Diveev, Milan Gajic, Joao Victor – Daniel Ruiz, Matvey Kislyak, Ivan Oblyakov, Danil Krugovoy, Mateus Alves – Artem Shumansky.
Midfielder Rodrigo Villagra has recovered from injury. However, forward Kirill Glebov is unavailable due to injury. The squad has been bolstered by midfielder Matija Popovic and forwards Enrique Carmo, Gleb Popolitov.
Referee
Sergey Karasev (Russia)
Matches – 19 (RPL, 2024/25 - 2025/26);
Yellow cards shown (including second yellows) – 83;
Average yellow cards per match – 4.4;
Red cards shown – 7;
Average fouls per match – 24;
Penalties – 32%.
Rostov vs. CSKA: Match Prediction
The opponents last met in the final of the previous Russian Cup. In that encounter, no goals were scored, and CSKA ultimately claimed the trophy. I believe the Army Men will achieve a positive result in the upcoming match, but it will be much more entertaining in terms of scoring.
The capital club has gone seven rounds in the current championship without a defeat. Moreover, the team is unbeaten in 21 consecutive Premier League matches (13 wins, 8 draws). In the RPL, the Moscow side is among the top 3 in scoring, but Fabio Celestini's team has only kept a clean sheet in the first round. In terms of xGA, the Army Men even look worse than their closest opponent.
A victory over relegation-battling Pari NN is Rostov's only win in the last 12 championship matches (5 draws, 6 losses). During this stretch, the team only managed to "dry up" against Nizhny Novgorod. Meanwhile, Rostov has conceded 10 goals from the Army Men in their last 5 RPL meetings. The club generally struggles against CSKA, failing to win in 9 of their last 10 head-to-head Premier League encounters.
My prediction: CSKA will not lose and Total over 1.5 goals
