FC Istiklol vs CSKA Pamir Dushanbe Predictions

• Istiklol won the Tajikistan title by 15 points last season
• The champions started the 2020 season with a 7-0 win over Dushanbe 83
• CSKA Pamir scored just eight goals in ten away games last season

Champions hot favourites after opening day hammering

Istiklol are giants in Tajiki footballing terms and are heavy favourites to make it two wins from two games this season when they take on CSKA Pamir Dushanbe.

The hosts won the Tajikistan Higher League title by a commanding 15-point margin in 2019 and started their defence in no uncertain terms by hammering top-fight new boys Dushanbe 83 7-0 on the opening weekend.

Istiklol, managed by former Tajikistan international Vitaly Levchenko, have won the title in eight of the last ten seasons and are on a six-year run as champions.

For good measure, they have also won the Tajik Cup seven times in the last ten seasons and their grip on the title looks unlikely to loosen this year.

Each Higher League Club can register six foreign player and Istiklol count former Russian Premier League player Viktor Svezhov and Serbian powerhouse centre-half Marko Milic among their number.

Levchenko has retained the services of last season’s top scorers Sheriddin Boboev and Alisher Dzhalilov while Tajikistan international striker Manuchekhr Dzhalilov, who scored 59 goals in 47 games for the club between 2015 and 2017, has returned from a spell in Indonesia.

Manuchekhr struck a hat-trick on his return last week, with Boboev scoring twice, and the champions have CSKA Pamir in their sights this week.

Visitors CSKA off to a slow start

CSKA finished fourth last season, but they were only five points clear of a relegation playoff and a colossal 22 points adrift of Istiklol in the title race.

Sergey Zhitsky’s men began the season with a disappointing 3-1 loss against Khujand last week and were already 2-0 down when Firuz Bobiev was sent off at the CSKA Stadium.

Istiklol beat CSKA 4-1 and 3-0 last season before losing to them when the title was already secure on the final day of the campaign and it’s hard to see anything other than a comprehensive home victory.