"Spartak" – CSKA Moscow on May 6: team uniforms, analytics and forecast

The Russian Football Cup season is nearing its end. On Wednesday, May 6, the final of the Way of the Regions will take place, in which Spartak Moscow and CSKA Moscow will meet in the capital derby. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

Form of commands

Both clubs approached this meeting in difficult conditions. The Red-and-Whites scored seven out of 15 possible points in the last five matches of the Russian Premier League (RPL), and in the last round they missed the opportunity to reach a clean third place, losing 2-1 on the road to Samara Wings of the Soviets. Juan Carcedo's team demonstrates an unstable game. So, Spartak managed to beat Pari Nizhny Novgorod on the road (1:2) and won a landslide victory over Stanislav Cherchesov's Akhmat Grozny (3:1). At the same time, the capital club lost to the leader of the Krasnodar table at its stadium, conceding the second goal at the very end of the meeting. However, in the previous round of the Cup, the Red-whites sensationally defeated Zenit from St. Petersburg in a penalty shootout (6-7 and 0-0 in regular time). This victory can be a serious incentive for the team in the match against the "army". Especially when reaching the Super Finals and the opportunity to take the trophy in a difficult season are at stake.

In CSKA, in turn, personnel changes took place shortly before the meeting. Fabio Celestini, the head coach of the team, and his coaching staff left the club on May 4. Despite a successful first half of the season and a serious fight for the championship title, the Red-Blues showed disastrous results in the spring part of the season. The team lost its mathematical chances of winning the championship and by the 29th is only in sixth place with 45 points. In addition, in the last five games, Celestini's team has never scored three points, losing twice and drawing three times. So, the Army team could not hold off Zenit in Moscow (1:3), lost at the Sochi home stadium, for which this victory was the first in the spring part of the championship after a long series of failures, and also shared points with Rubin, Rostov and Krylia Sovetov. At the same time, in the last cup game, CSKA beat Dynamo Moscow in the derby with a crushing score (2:5), which, as in the case of Spartak, can play a decisive role in the derby.

Match scenario, game forecast

The matches between CSKA and Spartak have always been known for their integrity and increased attention among both club fans and neutral fans. Yuri Semin, the former head coach of Lokomotiv Moscow, commenting on the upcoming meeting, noted that it was difficult to identify a clear favorite, and replacing the head coach of the Army two days before the game was unlikely to change anything dramatically in the team: "Probably, only CSKA head coach Igdisamov can change emotions. He knows the club structure and most of the squad well."

Former red-blue coach Valery Gazzaev expressed a similar point of view, calling it a difficult question whether a change of coach would help CSKA. However, he stressed that the meeting of these teams is "a match for all time." Russian specialist Sergey Yuran, in turn, preferred Spartak in the meeting, arguing this was due to the difficult psychological state of the Army team: "I admit that CSKA is not in the best psychological state right now. Spartak probably has a slight advantage because of the home arena."

Overall, the match promises to be interesting and eventful, including due to the emotional pressure and reaction of the stands, which are often found in derbies. At the same time, it is difficult to count on an abundance of goals scored due to the poor condition of the players and the teams as a whole. However, in October 2025, the teams demonstrated high performance and scored five goals between them, and Spartak won that meeting.

The meeting between CSKA and Spartak will take place on May 9 at 20:00 Moscow time at Lukoil Arena.