The depth of the squad, the magic of Vlasic and the experience of Akinfeev: why CSKA has more chances to fight for the championship than Spartak

Competent work in the transfer market

As part of the 14th round of the RPL, Spartak drew away with Ural (2: 2) and made a second consecutive misfire in the Russian Championship.

A week earlier, the red and white lost at home to Rostov and lost the lead in the CSKA standings.

CSKA defeated Rotor in the 13th round and, having won the fourth victory in a row in the national championship, for the first time in more than 13 months led the Premier League standings.

What happened gave a reason to compare the two Moscow teams and determine whose chances for the title are higher.

At first glance, Spartak has some advantage, since it is not burdened with European cups and has the ability to play in the most comfortable mode.

CSKA also represents Russia in the Europa League.

So, in November and December, the army team will play 11 matches (they have already played two of them), while Spartak will enter the field only six times in a month and a half.

At the same time, one cannot say that Viktor Goncharenko's charges look tired, like the players of Zenit, Lokomotiv and Krasnodar.

CSKA have a bench long enough this season to painlessly rotate.

A year ago, the team's coaching staff had to solve serious personnel problems and relied on the same players, even if they were not in the best shape.

For example, Fedor Chalov invariably came out at the forefront of the attack, although he practically did not score.

However, in the summer, CSKA managed to significantly strengthen, spending € 30 million on newcomers. The defense line was strengthened by Bruno Fuchs and Baktiyor Zainutdinov, and the attack - by Chidera Edzhuke and Adolfo Gaich.

Not all of them immediately began to benefit the team, but Goncharenko got the opportunity to rotate.

As a result, the army team looks almost fresher than the Spartak players, playing matches in the regime two days later on the third.

No unnecessary misfires

Stronger red-blue steel and psychologically.

Goncharenko's unexpected departure to Belarus in the summer seemed to shake up his charges.

The club's management in this situation behaved wisely and did not change the coach, although both fans and experts spoke of the need for such a measure.

As a result, the army team, after the specialist returned, suffered only one defeat at the end of the 2019/20 season - from Lokomotiv in the 29th round of the RPL (1: 2).

And most importantly, the team stopped regularly losing points in matches with opponents inferior to them in the class.

In the last draw of the national championship, CSKA lost to Krylya Sovetov, which eventually left the elite, and to Arsenal, and also broke up with the newcomer of the Premier League Sochi, Ural and twice - with Ufa.

In the new season, CSKA is still collecting almost all of its points.

If the army team lost credits, then in matches with equal opponents: "Zenith", "Rubin", "Krasnodar" and "Lokomotiv".

But in meetings with outsiders and middle peasants, the army team do not experience any problems.

Even in the games against Ufa and Rotor, in which Goncharenko's players won with a minimum score, they had an undeniable advantage and could well have scored more.

In this regard, the current army team reminds CSKA of Leonid Slutsky, who could have lost to direct competitors, but did not allow inexplicable misfires and, including due to this, became the champion twice in a row.

"Spartak" cannot yet boast of the same.

In the first round, the red-and-white parted ways with Sochi - 2: 2, losing a two-goal advantage.

Then they could not beat Ufa on the road (1: 1), and in the 14th round - Ural (2: 2).

And in the matches with Rotor, Arsenal, Tambov and Khimki, the red-and-white could well have lost points, but they were lucky.

And sometimes the judges made ambiguous decisions in favor of the capital's team.

Bright attacking play

Spartak's problems in meetings with teams inferior in class are largely related to the manner of play.

Red-and-white under Tedesco feel comfortable when they get free space on the other side of the field.

It is not surprising that the ten-time Russian champion looked best in confrontations with direct competitors who did not rely on defensiveness.

However, most of the rivals in the Premier League in matches with Spartak “park the bus” in their own penalty area, which Tedesco's wards do not always manage to hack.

CSKA, on the other hand, in positional attacks looks almost the strongest in the RPL, and in terms of the number of goals scored (25) it is second only to Zenit (27).

Spartak has 24 goals (played more for a match).

At the same time, the army team includes Nikola Vlasic, who is able to go through any defensive line and single-handedly decide the outcome of the meeting.

This season, the Croat has already scored ten points for performance in 11 Premier League matches (6 goals + 4 assists).

In the red and white, such a player in the center of the field last year was Zelimkhan Bakaev, but in 2020 he still looks like a pale shadow of himself.

It is no coincidence that in the match with Rostov, the tenth number was replaced already during the break, and he started the game with Ural in reserve.

One cannot but mention the army midfielder Konstantin Kuchaev, who has made impressive progress.

Before, he practically did not score, but in the new season he began to regularly upset his opponents.

In the RPL, the young Russian midfielder already has five goals, and in the team scorers' race he is second only to Vlašić.

At the same time, he works well with Mario Fernandez on the right flank.

But Spartak's attack line looks stronger.

Ezequiel Ponce and Jordan Larsson have already scored 12 goals for two in 14 RPL matches.

Five more are in the asset of Alexander Sobolev.

And Alexander Kokorin can always strengthen the game from the bench.

The four-handed army forwards have scored only five goals in all tournaments.

However, CSKA's game does not depend only on their performance.

The same Chalov scored the only goal so far, but gave four assists and is one of the best assistants in the championship.

And in playing along, Fedor looks almost stronger than in the end.

And almost anyone can score against CSKA.

For comparison, in the first part of the season, the army team's goals in the RPL hit 13 people, and Spartak's - nine.

Reliable defense

In defense, CSKA look more reliable.

For the red-whites, a lot of the game is based on the activity on the flanks of the full-backs Ayrton and Victor Moses, who regularly join the attacks.

But sometimes they do not have time to work on their own half.

This, for example, happened in the episode with the goal of Pavel Mamaev in the match against Rostov.

CSKA, on the other hand, left the formation with three central defenders during the season, but the number in this case did not affect the quality.

Herdur Magnusson and the rapidly progressing Igor Diveev are still operating as reliably as possible.

The coaching staff brought order to the defense flanks as well.

If Fernandez is indispensable for the army on the right, the left edge often became a headache for Goncharenko.

However, at the start of the new season, the newcomer Zainutdinov successfully played in this position.

The universal footballer from Kazakhstan acts in defense reliably and calmly, and also boldly joins the attacks.

CSKA fans do not have to worry about the last line of defense, because the experienced Igor Akinfeev remains the main goalkeeper of the team.

The footballer, who made his debut in the main team of the red-blue back in 2003, is the real leader of the red-blue, who maintains the right attitude in the team.

In the liabilities of the bronze medalist of Euro 2008 this season so far there is only one gross mistake.

In the match against Arsenal, he imprudently played on the way out and allowed Luka Djordjevic to outplay himself.

His counterpart Alexander Maksimenko, although he regularly saves Spartak, but due to his youth, makes mistakes much more often.

The derby with CSKA became indicative, in which the goalkeeper of the red and white did not act very reliably.

And in the victorious game with Krasnodar, Maksimenko almost became a co-author of a couple of funny goals.