PSV Eindhoven – CSKA Moscow. Artur Petrosyan’s prediction

Six losses in the last seven games, including three home losses in a row in November. Something’s definitely not right with the Russian Army club. The players not being paid since September is far from being their only problem. And Leonid Slutskiy who has to do two jobs (now managing Russia along with CSKA) doesn’t seem to be a problem at all.

Too many games for a relatively old squad, a rather short bench (or no bench at all, you might say), injuries to some influential figures like Vasiliy Berezutsky, Sergey Ignashevich and surely Roman Eremenko, poor form of another important ones like Bibras Natcho and Igor Akinfeev, who has recently set a record of conceding in 36 Champions League games in a row – he hasn’t kept a clean sheet since November 2006.

Igor Akinfeev has had a nightmare here! May even have been going wide. 36 #UCL games in a row conceding. https://t.co/ktH3UJniVR

— Betfair (@Betfair) November 25, 2015

That’s their problems in short. To their luck, those clubs that could fight for the domestic title have problems of their own, which let CSKA stay at the top of the table till March with the Russian Premier League paused for a winter break. In Europe though things have not gone that well, as the Red-Blues lost any chance of progressing to the knock-out stages of the Champions League after their loss to Wolfsburg. They are still in with a chance for a place in Europa League though, but it’s certainly not what they’ve been dreaming of.

PSV on the other hand are in for the match of life and death as they’ve been saying themselves. Win and they’re through to the knock-out stages of the competition for the first time since 2006/07, no matter what happens in the other game. They haven’t lost in 9 matches in a row, having won seven of them. They’ve already beaten Man United and Wolfsburg on home soil and are now likely to do that to their Russian guests.

So my bets will be PSV win with -1 Asian handicap at Ladbrokes for 2.41. PSV to keep a clean sheet for 2.75 at Ladbrokes and a Corner to happen in the first 5 minutes of the match for 2.45 at William Hill.