RPL: CSKA Face Tricky Kuban Test

© RIA Novosti . Alexander Vilf / Go to the mediabankSeydou Doumbia
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Russian league leaders CSKA Moscow face a difficult obstacle Saturday with a trip to FC Kuban, a side renowned for tripping up more illustrious opponents.

MOSCOW, November 9 (R-Sport) - Russian league leaders CSKA Moscow face a difficult obstacle Saturday with a trip to FC Kuban, a side renowned for tripping up more illustrious opponents.

Kuban held CSKA to four draws last season on their way to a record eighth-place finish and are riding high in the table in fourth ahead of Saturday’s match.

CSKA have risen to the top of the table despite missing injured first-choice striker Seydou Doumbia, with midfielder Keisuke Honda and stand-in forward Ahmed Musa contributing 11 goals between them in 14 games.

Kuban have shown a talent for grinding out wins and are on a run of four victories in their last five games, as well as staying unbeaten at home all season.

Should CSKA drop points, second-placed Anzhi Makhachkala can go top with a win at out-of-form Lokomotiv Moscow on Sunday.

Guus Hiddink’s men played a full-strength side in their 1-0 win over Liverpool in the Europa League on Thursday, and midfielder Mbark Boussoufa warned after the game that Hiddink would have few options to pick fresher players.

“'We have quite a lot of injuries, so I don't think we can make that many changes, but we will see,” Boussoufa said.

“Obviously we will be a little bit tired, but we have to get ourselves ready for the next game."

Anzhi continue to be without injured midfielder Lassana Diarra, while another midfielder, Odil Akhmedov, has recently returned from three months on the sidelines, but was substituted after just 29 minutes against Liverpool.

Hiddink can draw on a pool of promising but inexperienced Russian midfield talent, including Oleg Shatov, Georgy Gabulov and Sharif Mukhammad.

Lokomotiv are without a win in five league games and have slipped to eighth, raising doubts about coach Slaven Bilic’s future, since his predecessor Jose Couceiro did not have his contract renewed after finishing seventh last season.

Bilic blamed refereeing for a 2-1 defeat to CSKA last week, which saw defender Jan Durica and forward Maicon join ex-Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko on the injury list.

Elsewhere, third-placed Zenit St. Petersburg travel to 13th-placed FC Volga in a bid to continue their 100 percent record in league games against the strugglers, who are a point away from the relegation zone.

Zenit suffered a blow Thursday when Belgian defender Nicolas Lombaerts was ruled out for two weeks with a thigh strain he picked up in Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League to Anderlecht, while Volga are on a high after boosting their survival hopes by beating Alania Vladikavkaz 2-0 in a relegation clash last week.

Also Sunday, Spartak Moscow coach Unai Emery is under pressure with his team all but eliminated from the Champions League after a 2-0 defeat at Benfica on Wednesday and bogged down in sixth in the Russian Premier League.

Spartak’s opponents this weekend are ninth-placed FC Krasnodar, who are unbeaten in three games and in Yura Movsisyan have a striker with 10 goals in 13 league games this season.

The weekend’s action starts Friday evening with a clash between FC Rostov, stuck in 14th despite star signings David Bentley and Florent Sinama Pongolle, and 10th-placed Amkar Perm.

On Saturday, Dan Petrescu continues his quest to haul 11th-placed Dynamo Moscow up the table with a home game against 15th-placed Alania, and this season’s surprise package Terek Grozny, in fifth, will look to return to winning ways after two defeats when they host bottom club Mordovia Saransk.

On Sunday, seventh-placed Rubin Kazan look to reform a mediocre season at home to Krylya Sovetov, in 12th without a win in six league games despite a much-vaunted Paraguayan strike partnership.

 

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