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The Russian Premier League is set to resume following the two-month winter break with the epic Moscow derby between Spartak Moscow and CSKA Moscow.
Spartak struggled in the first half of the season and sit marginally inside the top 10. They are seven points off CSKA, who hold the last European spot in the league.
Their rivals sit pretty in fourth in the table with a solid chance of closing the gap with Dynamo Moscow for the last Champions League slot.
Spartak Moscow vs CSKA Moscow Head-to-Head
The visitors hold the edge in the fixture, having won three out of their last five outings in the division, including their narrow 1-0 win against the Reds in their last league outing in September.
Overall, CSKA hold a strangehold in this outing, having won more than 50 percent of their matches against Spartak in all competitions.
Spartak Moscow form guide (in RPL): L-W-D-L-D
CSKA Moscow form guide (in RPL): D-W-L-D-D
Spartak Moscow vs CSKA Moscow Team News
Spartak Moscow
Long-term absentees Georgi Milkadze and Pavel Maslov are expected to be back in action for this outing. Roman Zobnin's fitness remains a concern for the home team.
Doubtful: Roman Zobnin
Suspension: None
CSKA Moscow
Hordur Magnusson is the only fitness concern for the visitors with an Achilles tendon injury.
Injury: Hordur Magnusson
Suspension: None
Spartak Moscow vs CSKA Moscow Predicted XI
Spartak Moscow Predicted XI (3-5-2): Aleksandr Selikhov; Ilya Kutepov, Maximiliano Caufriez, Georgiy Dzhikiya; Victor Moses, Pavel Maslov, Mikhail Ignatov, Stepan Melnikov, Georgi Milkadze, Quincy Promes, Aleksandr Sobolev
CSKA Moscow Predicted XI (3-5-2): Igor Akinfeev (GK); Jaka Bijol, Igor Diveyev, Kirill Nababkin; Ivan Oblyakov, Baktiyor Zaynutdinov, Alan Dzagoev, Maksim Mukhin, Mario Fernandes; Chidera Ejuke, Anton Zabolotnyi
Spartak Moscow vs CSKA Moscow Prediction
This fixture is vitally important for the teams as they look to start the second half of their season in a positive way. Spartak will require a miracle given the competitiveness of the league to stage a comeback to European qualification.
They will hope that Aleksander Sobolev can contribute more goals as they have struggled in the final third. They have scored the lowest goals among the top 10 outfits so far this season - an area they would like to improve on.
The visitors will hope to maintain their edge in the fixture and in the points table by winning this game, and we expect them to do so.
Prediction: Spartak Moscow 1-2 CSKA Moscow
