Russian Premier League Double by Dmitry Khlestkin

CSKA Moscow – Terek Grozni

CSKA Moscow have just been humiliated by Zenit in the Russian Cup final (1:4) and they are seeking revenge. However, they will also be aware that they’ll play three matches in just eight days. Adding the Zenit match, it will be four games in two weeks. This is a tough schedule for a team whose key central defenders, Berezutski twins and Ignashevich, are 33 and 36, respectively. With this in mind, the logical assumption is to think that CSKA will try to save energy and will attempt to win the game on class, waiting for Terek’s mistakes in defence. Having said this, I’m not exactly sure about a home team win, as they are missing their striker Olanare and the remainder of their attacking group isn’t in very good form. Add in the fact that the away team definetely knows a thing or two about defending (only 24 conceded goals in 26 games), and it’s hard to fancy CSKA with any real conviction. I’ll opt for under 3.5 goals here at 1.29, which I regard as a safe bet.

Anzhi – Zenit

On the contrary, Zenit are in very good good shape after winning the Cup, and I seriously don’t know how the team who have by far the worst defence in the league (Anzhi conceded 48 in 26 matches) can oppose Russia’s best attack. Given the way they’ve been playing lately, in my mind, there’s no way that Zenit will fail to score at least two goals, so, to complete the double, I’m picking Zenit over 1.5 goals here at 1.44.