CSKA Moscow v BSC Young Boys Betting Tips: Muscovites to see job through

One of Wednesday’s Champions League fixtures sees CSKA Moscow take on Swiss side BSC Young Boys. The first leg of this tie ended in rather hilarious, yet unfortunate, circumstances for Young Boys as defender Kasim Nuhu headed into his own net in the 91st minute.

After a poor start to the season, CSKA have recovered in the last few weeks to record three wins in their last four games. Their improved form, particularly domestically, has put them fourth in the Russian Premier League table.

The Army Men have traditionally been known for having a solid backline but offering little in the final third. These type of performances over the last few seasons were turned on their head at the start of this campaign as they scored seven times but conceded six goals in their opening four Russian Premier League matches. However, things are now seemingly back to normal with CSKA having kept clean sheets in both of their last two outings in all competitions.

Due to the odd pricing structure the club have implemented this term, Viktor Goncharenko’s men have played in front of rather small crowds at the VEB Arena so far this campaign. However, this has not had affected performances on the pitch in recent times with three wins in their last four – including a 2-1 win over Russian champions and city rivals Spartak Moscow. Additionally, in terms of the Champions League, home form has also been relatively good in recent years with just two defeats since September 2014 – 11 matches.

Young Boys will no doubt have been shocked at the way they lost last week’s fixture and, unfortunately for them, they were unable to recover fully from this defeat at the weekend as they could only draw away at Zurich. Having said that, they are still second in the Swiss Super League. However, in terms of European football, they are a bit of a minnow with seven defeats in their last nine Champions League matches.

Adi Hutter’s men have tended to be rather inconsistent in their performances at both ends of the pitch so far this campaign. One week they will win 3-0 – as they did against Lausanne Sport a few weeks ago – before losing the next match 4-0 – as happened in their following fixture against Thun. Young Boys have improved defensively in their last couple of outings and that unfortunate own goal against CSKA last week was the only one they have conceded in their last two. However, they have now failed to score in over 180 minutes of football in all competitions.

The Swiss side have been excellent on their travels in their last trio of games with two wins and one draw – scoring seven and conceding none – however, their Champions League away record is horrendous with five consecutive defeats in a run stretching back to 2010 – conceding 19 times and scoring just twice.

Given Young Boys’ awful away record in the Champions League, I would back CSKA to see the job through here. Having said that, I doubt there will be too many goals here as the Army Men have looked particularly good at the back of late. With this in mind, I have gone with CSKA Moscow to Win and Under 3.5 Goals Total at a profitable 8/5 – far better value than a straight CSKA win at 5/6.