CSKA Moscow vs Feyenoord 27/11/20

VEB Arena is the venue as CSKA Moscow hope to kick-start their UEFA Europa League campaign against an unpredictable Feyenoord side.

A 3-1 defeat to Feyenoord in the reverse fixture gave CSKA a sizeable headache as they head into this clash winless in their opening three Europa League group stage matches (D2, L1). Since the beginning of last season, the Russian heavyweights have won just one of their nine games in this competition’s group stage (D4, L4), scoring under 1.5 goals on each occasion! This season alone, Viktor Goncharenko’s men failed to get on the scoresheet before half-time in two of their three Europa League outings, both of which yielded a goalless HT score. Another potential issue for CSKA could be a disappointing home form that has seen them fail to win any of their last six home fixtures in major European competitions (D2, L4).

On the other hand, the visitors have accrued a win, draw, and loss from their opening three group stage matches, with the last two seeing over 3.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet. Interestingly, a victory over CSKA on Matchday 3 has been only Feyenoord’s second triumph in their last nine games in the Europa League group stage (D3, L4). Furthermore, ‘De club aan de Maas’ had lost four consecutive away fixtures in the Europa League group stage before being held to a goalless road draw to Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 1. A lack of firepower up front saw Feyenoord draw a blank four times during that five-game sequence! Yet, they have won two of their four previous meetings with CSKA (D1, L1) despite scoring precisely once per game on three of those occasions.