- Season form: In Premier League 2026/2027, Fakel Voronezh have not won their first home match, while Akhmat Grozny have yet to win on the road.
- Head-to-head: The H2H record suggests that this game should be close and competitive, with the home side having the edge over the visitors (W3, D2, L0 in the last 5).
- Player form: Maksim Turishchev has scored 3 of Fakel's 8 goals across his last 5 appearances.
A tale of two teams seeking consistency
FK Fakel Voronezh
FK Fakel Voronezh have won three and lost two of their last five matches and enter Monday's game on the back of a two-game losing streak. They have played a 1-2 home defeat to Dynamo Makhachkala and a 3-2 away defeat to Krasnodar, so the defensive line has been shaky, but rather the lack of clinicality up front.
FC Akhmat Grozny
FC Akhmat Grozny have played out one win, three draws and one defeat in their last five outings, making them a tough team to beat, although far from convincing. They have beaten Ajman 1-0 at home, drawn 1-1 with Lokomotiv Moscow away and were beaten 1-2 by Spartak Moscow at home in their most recent matches.
Akhmat’s away struggles
Standings
FK Fakel Voronezh (14th, 0 points from 2 matches) have had a tough start to Premier League 2026/2027 as have their opponents FC Akhmat Grozny (11th, 1 point from 2 matches). These two teams should be much closer to the bottom of the table in terms of the standings by the end of the campaign, but they have struggled to find consistency thus far.
Tactics
Oleg Vasilenko's 4-3-3 system is quite a structured, possession-to-attack, but it relies on plenty of width and the ability to finish off moves. Belajdi Pusi adds some creativity from wide areas with 1 assist in 2 Premier League 2026/2027 matches, while the main goal threat comes from Aleksei Sutormin, who has 1 goal in 1 match. Stanislav Cherchesov has built his Akhmat side to be shape-first and compact, with players who are effective in transition and from set pieces. Egas Cacintura has 1 goal in 2 matches in the Premier League 2026/2027, leading the way.
A battle of attrition
Although Fakel's home record is (W2, L1), the fact they've already lost at the Fakel Stadium gives us pause for thought when picking a winner in this one.
The last head-to-head meeting in the Premier League 2024/2025 ended 0-0 at this venue and Akhmat have not won any of their last 3 trips to this ground, so we're happy to keep it live.
- The fact that Akhmat have drawn their last 3 away games also suggests that this will be a tight and tense match rather than a shootout.
- The odds for Akhmat are 2.25, a number that doesn't fit the current form, while Fakel are listed at 3.26 and the draw is 3.44.
- For the same reasons as above, we're going for a low scoring game with Under 2.5 goals at 1.69 and Both Teams To Score – No at 1.79.
