- Team form: Arda Kardzhali are enjoying a run of 4 wins and 1 draw in their last 5 matches
- Home form: FC CSKA 1948 have 1 win and 1 draw in their last 2 home matches
- Head-to-head: Arda won the last head-to-head meeting between these two sides 3-0 in Parva Liga 2025/2026
Arda on a hot streak
The two sides meeting at Vitosha Bistritsa, Bulgaria, on Friday are playing well above expectations in the early stages of the Parva Liga 2026/2027 season with CSKA 1948 sitting fourth with 1 point from 1 game and Arda Kardzhali first with 4 from 2.
But it is the visitors who arrive with the better form heading into the game having beaten Cherno More Varna 3-2, held Septemvri Sofia to a 1-1 draw and just edged Slavia Sofia 1-0 to keep their undefeated record in tact. They will feel confident of causing another upset here as they won 3-0 when these sides met eight months ago and will also know how to get under the skin of a CSKA side they know well.
CSKA have been stubborn but not clinical
Recent results
CSKA 1948 are slight favorites in this match between two teams who have been playing well. CSKA are undefeated in their last 5 games in all competitions, but they have drawn 4 of those matches, the latest trio of which have all been on the draw, 0-0 with Levski Sofia, 2-2 at Spartak Varna and 0-0 at Spartak Trnava.
Tactics and threats
- Sasho Aleksandrov has them well-organized and pragmatic, usually playing with a single pivot and plenty of players to overload wide areas when in possession.
- Mamadou Diallo is their main goal threat, scoring 2 of their 4 goals in the last 5 matches and carrying most of the goal-scoring burden.
- Aleksandar Tunchev's Arda have a very different approach, packing the defense to be disciplined and compact in a 4-2-3-1 formation while looking to hit opponents on the counterattack or through set plays.
Avoiding the Arda price
Arda are a good price to win in this game at 4.26, but it is a similar story to CSKA 1948 at 1.9 with the draw coming in at a huge 3.35.
This game looks set to be a tight and tactical match-up which makes it hard to separate the two teams. CSKA have made their home turf a place where they are difficult to beat and that's why we're going to back them, but the game looks likely to be decided by a single goal.
The under 2.5 goals line at 1.67 fits the low-scoring recent performances of CSKA and both teams to score – No at 1.75 should also work well given Arda are likely to keep things tight.
