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Europa League | Group Stage

Dec 3, 2020 at 5.55pm UK

VEB Arena

CSKA
0 - 1
Wolfsberger

FT(HT: 0-1)

Vizinger (22')
Baumgartner (67'), Peretz (86'), Kofler (90+1')

Preview: CSKA Moscow vs. Wolfsberger - prediction, team news, lineups

By Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter | 01 December 2020

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa League clash between CSKA Moscow and Wolfsberger, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

CSKA Moscow host Wolfsberger in the Europa League on Thursday night and are still in with a chance of progressing to the knockout stages, despite failing to win any of their opening four matches.

Wolfsberger, meanwhile, have slipped to third place in Group K after successive defeats to Dinamo Zagreb.

Match preview

CSKA Moscow's Adolfo Gaich celebrates scoring against Wolfsberger in the Europa League in October 2020 © Reuters

CSKA Moscow have found points much tougher to come by in Europe this season, having drawn three of their Group K matches.

The 0-0 draw with Feyenoord in their last match was the fifth draw in their last seven games in the Europa League since the start of last season – no team have been involved in more stalemates in the competition.

They do however sit joint-top of the Russian Premier League – with 32 points after 10 league wins from 16 matches – although they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Rubin Kazan on Sunday.

CSKA Moscow won their only previous home game against Austrian opposition back in 1981, beating Sturm Graz 2-1 in a UEFA Cup match.

Victory for Viktor Goncharenko's side would be their first in this season's competition and could move them into second place if Feyenoord lose to Dinamo Zagreb.

Wolfsberger AC's Michael Liendl celebrates scoring their first goal on October 29, 2020 © Reuters

Wolfsberger are competing in only their second Europa League competition after qualifying for the group stages for the first time in their history last season.

The Austrian side have however suffered successive defeats to Dinamo Zagreb this campaign, which has seen the Croatian side move above them in Group K.

Thursday night will be Wolfsberger's first away game against Russian opponents, with their only previous match against a Russian side coming in the reverse fixture in October, which finished a 1-1 draw.

Ferdinand Feldhofer's side have only won one of their last nine games in the Europa League, with that lone victory coming away from home against Feyenoord.

Wolfsberger could better their points tally from last season's Europa League, with a win against Moscow moving them onto seven points and with a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time.

CSKA Moscow Europa League form: DDLD
CSKA Moscow form (all competitions): WLWDDL

Wolfsberger Europa League form: DWLL
Wolfsberger form (all competitions): WWLWLD

Team News

CSKA Moscow and Russia defender Mario Fernandes pictured in June 2020 © Reuters

CSKA defenders Bruno Fuchs (hip) and Kirill Nababkin (knee) are both ruled out with injuries.

Alan Dzagoev and Vadim Karpov are also unavailable after testing positive for coronavirus.

Striker Fyodor Chalov, who has yet to score in the Europa League this campaign, is set to lead the line for the Russians once again.

Wolfsberger midfielder Matthaus Taferner is back from suspension, having been sent off against Dinamo Zagreb at the start of November.

Alexander Kofler and Marko Soldo are both unavailable as the pair have tested positive for coronavirus.

CSKA Moscow possible starting lineup:
Akinfeev; Fernandes, Diveev, Magnusson, Zaynutdinov; Maradishvilli, Oblyakov; Sigurdsson, Vlasic, Kuchaev; Chalov

Wolfsberger possible starting lineup:
Kuttin; Novak, Baumgartner, Lochoshvili, Scherzer; Stratznig, Wernitznig, Liendl, Peretz; Dieng, Joveljic

SM words green background

We say: CSKA Moscow 1-1 Wolfsberger

Both sides need a result if they are to have a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages. With both sides lacking consistency and little between the two teams, Thursday night could see another score draw.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a CSKA Moscow win with a probability of 40.85%. A win for Wolfsberger had a probability of 36.5% and a draw had a probability of 22.7%.

The most likely scoreline for a CSKA Moscow win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.45%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (5.89%) and 2-0 (5.15%). The likeliest Wolfsberger win was 1-2 (7.95%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.68%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood.