UEFA Champions League Play: Trabzonspor @ CSKA Moscow

CSKA MOSCOW  vs  TRABZONSPOR

SOCCER PLAY - UEFA Champions League: Trabzonspor @ CSKA Moscow

***SINGLE DIME PLAY***

NOTE: EARLY GAME! STARTS AT 12PM EST! 6PM CET!

CSKA Moscow has only one point so far in the competition and so this is basically a must win game for them – any other scenario than a today’s win will put them way behind the group and with few chances to qualify for the next round.  

Their ability to attack and score goals is unquestionable. Already in this competition, they have scored two goals against Internazionale at home and put another two goals on the net against Lille in France. Vagner Love and Doumbia form a nice combo on the front while young talented Russian midfielder Dzagoev dictates the tempo of this team. 

This isn’t a good spot for Trabzonspor at all as any road CL’s game in Russia at this time of the year: long trip, cold weather and an artificial grass field, especially for a team from the South of Europe like Trabzonspor . 

On my projected scenario, I expect the CSKA Moscow to score at least one goal due to their offensive prowernss so the X factor of this contest is what Trabzonspor will do on the offensive end.

CSKA’s weakest link has been their defense as they already conceded 5 goals in two games but on my opinion they will be able to handle the Turkish offense with some ease! 

Trabzonspor scored one goal on the road against Inter but note that Inter’s team was a disaster in that point of the season that led to the firing of their head coach, also note that Trabzonspor attempted only ONE shot on target during all game (it was their goal scored!). In the last game against Lille, Trabzonspor scored only via penalty kick late on the game and managed to shot only 2 times on target – as you can see we are not talking about a good offensive team that creates multiple chances to score.

The problem is that their best striker Burak Yilmaz is still suspended for today’s game (he didn’t play in the first 2 games of the CL) and he has scored 8 of the 10 team goals in their domestic league! 80% of the team's total goals! Also, their “playmaker” Paulo Henrique is injured and won’t play today so I expect Trabzonspor to be a nullity on the offensive end. 

I’m taking  CSKA Moscow to win this contest.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on CSKA Moscow ML @ -131 / 1.76 on 5 Dimes