Anzhi Makhachkala v CSKA Moscow Betting Tips: Army Men to come out on top in Dagestan

The Russian Premier League gets back underway on Saturday and the last kickoff of the day is arguably the most interesting as Anzhi Makhachkala host CSKA Moscow.

Anzhi have undergone a revolution in the last few months. In the winter transfer window, they sold a large number of their squad in favour of more Dagestani players with this revolution continuing in this summer transfer window. At the time of writing, they have signed 17 new players so far. However, they also have a registration ban due to monies owed which means they have only registered 11 players so far – one for each position.

The Eagles had a lot of problems in both boxes last season which almost led to them getting relegated. Their record of 24 Goals For was the joint-second-worst in the top 12 whilst their total of 38 goals conceded was, again, the second-worst in the top 12. Manager Aleksandr Grigoryan has tried to deal with these problems during the transfer window with several defensively-minded players signed. Additionally, Anzhi have picked up Khasan Mamtov who was the second-highest goalscorer in the Russian second division last season. It will be interesting to see how the 33-year-old adapts to life in the top flight.

The Anzhi-Arena is a dreaded venue for most visiting teams given the volatile nature of its surroundings. However, towards the end of last season, a lot of away sides were picking up decent results in Dagestan with Anzhi failing to win any of their last five league matches on home soil, losing three of them.

CSKA could not retain their crown last campaign as they lost out to city rivals Spartak Moscow. There is no doubt that the Army Men are looking to hold off the challenge of Spartak and Zenit St. Petersburg this season to reclaim the title. However, manager Viktor Goncharenko has not made any notable additions to the squad in this transfer window so far so this title challenge has been thrown into doubt.

CSKA’s past successes have been built on having a solid defensive spine and, if that spine can replicate last season’s form when they conceded just 15 goals in 30 league matches, then they will have a really good chance of reclaiming the Russian Premier League title. However, the forward line has been a problem for a long time with the club having no consistent goalscorers in their ranks. Not one CSKA player was in the top 10 individual goalscorers last season which says a lot. Much is spoken about youngster Fedor Chalov, however, he cannot be expected to shoulder such a big burden at this early stage in his career.

Viktor Goncharenko’s side were brilliant on their travels at the back end of last season with no defeats in their last six away league matches, winning five and conceding just one goal in the process. Furthermore, going into this match, it is well worth noting that CSKA have not lost at Anzhi since 2012.

The away side are the clear favourites for this match and, given the chaos at Anzhi at the moment, it is clear to see why. Having said that, CSKA have problems up front and, with Russian league being so low scoring, I do not expect many goals. With this in mind, CSKA Moscow to Win and Under 2.5 Goals Total is very well priced at 15/8 here.