Krasnodar – CSKA

Krasnodar and CSKA will play efficiently

On Saturday, 12 July, Krasnodar will play against CSKA. This is the first official match of the Russian season - the teams will determine the winner of the Super Cup. Krasnodar starts a new campaign after a sensational victory in the RPL, while CSKA will play for the title, having sealed a Russian Cup victory back with Marko Nikolic. The summer turned out to be a nightmare for CSKA. Back on 1 June, Marko Nikolic announced that he would fight with the Army Men for the title next season. A few days later, the Serb changed his mind and left Russia. The club was forced to urgently search for a new coach. The Army men made a far from obvious choice in favour of Fabio Celestini. The ex-Basel coach came to put attacking football, with a completely different scheme. CSKA will be seriously changing again. The first friendly matches did not give a global understanding. The Army men are definitely moving away from the diamond scheme. At the same time, there is still too much uncertainty. Firstly, CSKA has yet to officially sign any significant newcomers, and secondly, Celestini's football is too different from Marko Nikolic's ideas. CSKA previously won two friendly matches against Partizan and OFK Belgrade. The level of resistance was very low. The Serbs came to Russia in poor form. Krasnodar is a model of stability against CSKA. The Russian champion has kept the main stars in the squad. Even Eduard Spertsyan has been retained so far. It is not excluded that the attacking midfielder will spend one more season in Russia. Krasnodar have done some fruitful work themselves. There are already several newcomers. The South Koreans have been strengthened by experienced centre-back Zhubal. Vitaliy Stezhko, the best player of the First League, has been brought in to rotate the defence. A new winger Gustavo Furtado joined the team. Not without losses. In particular, now Fedor Smolov is not linked with Krasnodar. The centre-back Caio has been sold to Botafogo. In any case, Krasnodar have certainly not become weaker. The match will take place in Moscow, but Krasnodar has the advantage in the line. With such a prediction from bookmakers can be agreed. Now there is an obvious advantage in the "bulls" exactly in stability. The club has been building for more than one year, while CSKA is simply in a zone of turbulence. It's hard to even predict the lineup for the Super Bowl. Celestini puts on attacking football - there is a risk of conceding a lot. It is doubtful that the opponents will play from defence. Krasnodar will maintain their attacking philosophy and will pressurise. Bookmakers give solid odds on the top match. Such a scenario is very possible. CSKA under Nikolic could play cold-bloodedly, but now everything will change. The teams could produce a spectacular match, despite the odds.