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Russian Premier League action for the 2021-22 campaign begins this weekend and CSKA Moscow will take on Ufa FC in their opening fixture of the season at the VEB Arena.
CSKA Moscow had a productive pre-season, recording wins in five of their six games. They lost 1-0 to Copenhagen FC earlier this month and have recorded three back-to-back wins since.
Ufa were very active in the pre-season too and took part in nine friendly games. They recorded a win in four of these fixtures. Their latest friendly game ended in a 2-0 loss to Viktoria Plzen.
CSKA Moscow vs Ufa Head-to-Head
Since Ufa's promotion to the Russian top-flight, the two sides have clashed 16 times across all competitions. CSKA Moscow are undefeated in this fixture and have nine wins to their name. The spoils have been shared seven times between the two sides.
They have been evenly matched in their recent encounters with four of their last six games ending in a draw. These sides last met in Russian Premier League action in May at Sunday's venue. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with Fedor Chalov and Filip Mrzljak getting on the scoresheet.
CSKA Moscow form guide (Pre-season): W-W-W-L-W
Ufa form guide (Pre-season): L-W-L-D-D
CSKA Moscow vs Ufa Team News
CSKA Moscow
There are a couple of injury concerns for the home side for this fixture. Fedor Chalov and Vladislav Yakovlev are struggling with thigh and knee injuries respectively and might not feature in this season opener. Arnor Sigurdsson and Hordur Magnusson are long-term absentees due to injury and will not feature in this game.
Bruno Fuchs and Adolfo Gaich are on international duties with Brazil and Argentina respectively at the Tokyo Olympics and remain unavailable for selection.
Injuries: Fedor Chalov, Vladislav Yakovlev, Arnor Sigurdsson, Hordur Magnusson
Suspension: None
Doubtful: None
Unavailable (National Duty): Bruno Fuchs, Adolfo Gaich
Ufa
Jimmy Tabidze and Aleksandr Sukhov are the two injury concerns for the visiting side here. They remain ruled out with injuries sustained last season.
Injuries: Jimmy Tabidze, Aleksandr Sukhov
Suspension: None
Doubtful: None
CSKA Moscow vs Ufa Predicted XI
CSKA Moscow Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Igor Akinfeev; Mario Fernandes, Igor Diveev, Viktor Vasin, Vadim Karpov; Alan Dzagoev, Ivan Oblyakov; Ilzat Akhmetov, Chidera Ejuke, Kristijan Bistrović; Anton Zabolotny
Ufa Predicted XI (5-3-2): Aleksandr Belenov; Moritz Bauer, Bojan Jokić, Konstantin Pliyev, Nemanja Miletić, Artyom Golubev; Azer Aliyev, Filip Mrzljak, Vladislav Kamilov; Vyacheslav Krotov, Timur Zhamaletdinov
CSKA Moscow vs Ufa Prediction
The two teams have endured different fortunes in pre-season and we expect their form to be reflected in this game as well. Given CSKA's record in the fixture and home advantage, they should be able to record a win here.
Prediction: CSKA Moscow 2-1 Ufa.
