CSKA v Wolfsburg
Football: Champions League 2009/2010
Wednesday, 25th Novermber 2009. Kickoff 18:30

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CSKA (Russia)

An all or nothing affair will be played out for CSKA on rainy Wednesday evening in Moscow. Leonid Slutsky lifted team's spirits with a 3-2 victory in the derby against Spartak over the week-end.

Defensive midfielder Deividas Semberas is suspended following the red card at Old Trafford.

The injury list consists of left winger Mark Gonzalez, who is out for the rest of the season. Brazilian striker Guilherme has been suffering from muscle problems lately, but is tipped to be at least ready to start at the bench.

His compatriot Daniel Carvalho missed the match vs. Spartak, but whatever his condition is - it is very unlikely Slutsky will opt for his services.

CSKA's starting line up has become quite stable recently and we can expect more of the same on Wednesday. Problematic left midfielder position will once again be solved by Pavel Mamaev. Russian youngster actually lacks speed to perform at the required level, however Slutsky is short of other options due to Gonzalez' injury.

Promising Czech international Tomas Necid has rediscovered the scoring touch as he found the net twice on Saturday and will be one of the major hopes for Army-men up front. And ofcourse the two most important figures, Dzagoev and Krasic, are to provide the necessary creativity to CSKA's combination play.

Deividas Semberas suspension means that either Bosnian veteran Elvir Rahimic gets his chance or Pavel Mamaev gets back to the more usual defensive midfielder position. The latter could only be possible in case Nika Piliev is fit to play.

Expected formation and line up :

CSKA Moscow (4-2-3-1)
Igor Akinfeev,
Vasily Berezutsky, Alexey Berezutsky, Sergey Ignashevic, Georgy Shennikov,
Milos Krasic, Elvir Rahimic,
Eugeny Aldonin, Pavel Mamaev, Alan Dzagoev,
Tomas Necid

Wolfsburg (Germany)

Wolfsburg underlined their 2nd place in Group B with a fine 3-0 win at Besiktas in a match where they outclassed the hosts with smart and pacey attacks. It puts them in an excellent position being 3 points above 3rd placed CSKA Moscow (who they already beat at home with a 3-1 score).

In the Bundesliga the Wolves continue to struggle though suffering a 2-3 home defeat against Nurnberg last Saturday. In an open encounter (8-10 goal attempts) Wolfsburg came back from behind twice, but Nurnberg nicked a deserved win in the last minute. It sees the team of coach Veh drop into 8th place in the Bundesliga, which is disappointing.

In the Champions League Wolfsburg have been showing their "A-game" though so far. Early team news for Wednesday's clash at Moscow is that Grafite remains out suspended, which will see Martins continue in attack next to Dzeko.

Midfielder Kahlenberg is not eligible in the CL, while Ziani is in the squad after recovering from a fitness deficit. A draw at Moscow would do to reach the next stage, but Wolfsburg should not rely on a defensive approach only (which is not their nature), but instead look for the same fast (counter) attacks, which earned them the win at Besiktas

Expected formation and line up :

Wolfsburg (4-4-2)
Diego Benaglio,
Sascha Riether, Ricardo Costa, Alexander Madlung, Marcel Schaefer,
Josue A.O., Makato Hasebe, Christian Gentner, Zvjezdan Misimovic,
Edin Dzeko, Obafemi Martins

Betting advice

A very difficult game to call here. Some of viewers may expect freezing weather conditions to affect visitors, but the forecast suggests the temp. should be around +6 with slight rain.

CSKA Moscow eventually will have to push forward and open up the defensive line, which is far from convincing anyway. I am against Russians once more.

The Statistics :

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take Wolfsburg(0) @ 2.36 with Bet365