Schedule of the 16th round of the World Cup – Russian Premier League (RPL) will continue on Saturday with three games. On this day the central match of the weekend between Spartak and Moscow will take place CSKA.
The match will take place at Lukoil Arena and will start at 4.45pm Moscow time. CSKA occupies 2nd place in the rankings RPLscoring 33 points. The leading Krasnodar has the same number of points, but the army team is inferior in additional indicators. The red and whites are in 6th position with 25 points. Earlier, the Spartak press service reported that all tickets for the match had been sold. For the red and whites it is the second sell-out after the match on 16 August against Zenit of St. Petersburg (2:2).
Midfielder Pablo Solari, who has scored 5 goals and provided 5 assists in 22 league and cup matches this season, will not play for Spartak due to too many yellow cards. Serbian defender Srdjan Babic will also miss the match as he is recovering from a torn cruciate ligament in his knee. U CSKA The participation of goalkeeper and captain Igor Akinfeev, defender Moises and midfielders Matheus Alves and Ivan Oblyakov is questionable.
In the first round CSKA beat Spartak at home with a score of 3:2. At the same time, the army team also won their last match at Lukoil Arena on April 26, 2025 (2:1). The red and whites win at home for the last time CSKA V RPL May 21, 2023, then the match ended with the score 2:1.
Celestini against Romanov
On November 11, Spartak announced the resignation of Dejan Stankovic as the team’s head coach. He has been working at the club since the summer of 2024. Instead, Vadim Romanov, who worked on Stankovic’s staff, was appointed interim head coach.
“The training process is going well, all the players are pumped up and preparing for the match, and the training camps are slowly returning,” Romanov said in a conversation with journalists. — All the tasks we scheduled during the week are being completed. I’m sure we will be ready for the match. I played many derbies in the youth sector, in the youth teams, here as an assistant. A derby is a derby, a game apart where everyone is extremely motivated, full of giving all their strength to win. The stadium will be full, we want to win. A full house means the full support of our fans, they will support and carry on.”
Head coach CSKA Fabio Celestini noted on the eve of the match that the team is preparing as usual, but at the same time everyone understands the importance of the match. “Spartak has a lot of technical players, they play at home and will move forward. I don’t think the new coach will change anything. And if something happens we are ready,” he told reporters.
Six-time Russian champion Spartak Egor Titov failed to identify a clear favorite of the match, noting the different situation of the teams before the match. “CSKA is in second place with the same number of points as leader Krasnodar. I can’t say that the army team will be the favorite. But they have a safety margin, even if the team doesn’t win nothing bad will happen. For Spartak the situation is different; you have to win every match to reach the league leaders. So the red and white players should have more motivation and desire. The attacking line, which has created many chances and scoring situations in recent games, should take the lead. I would also like to find a leader who can complete such a match,” Titov said.
On the other matches of the day
The game day will open with the match between Orenburg and Kaliningrad Baltika, the match will start at 14:00 Moscow time. Orenburg with 11 points occupies 14th place in the table RPLthe Baltics are fifth with 28 points. In the first round the Kaliningrad team was stronger at home with the score 3:2. Orenburg will play the match without coach Ildar Akhmetzyanov, who was suspended for two matches after the match with Lokomotiv Moscow (0:1).
Also on Saturday, Rubin Kazan will meet Akhmat Grozny at home, kick-off at 7.30pm Moscow time. Rubin is in 8th place in the table with 20 points. RPL. The Grozny team is 11th with 16 points. In the first part of the season Rubin won away with a score of 2:0.
Program of the 16th round RPL it started on Friday, on this day Akron Togliatti beat Sochi at home (3:2). On November 23, the matches “Wings of the Soviets” – “Rostov”, “Paris Nizhny Novgorod” – “Zenith”, “Dynamo” (Moscow) – “Dynamo” (Makhachkala) and “Lokomotiv” – “Krasnodar” will take place.
