A trophy cabinet can never have too much silverware and both CSKA Sofia and Botev Plovdiv know what's at stake in this second leg of the Bulgarian Cup Semi-finals clash.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Sofia and Botev Plovdiv.
This pitch has grass, which is not Botev Plovdiv's usual surface at their own ground. When playing on grass Botev Plovdiv have performed like this: Played 34 matches resulting in 12 wins, 9 draws and 13 defeats with the goal stats 39-41 (scored/conceded).
CSKA Sofia form and stats
CSKA Sofia participated in Bulgarian Cup the last season, where they reached the semi-finals and lost against Botev Plovdiv.This match is a Bulgarian Cup match, and the hometeam has the total statistics 3 wins, 1 draw and 0 losses in this competition. In general it's been a long time since CSKA Sofia tasted defeat here at Stadion Bâlgarska Armija, as they have taken at least one point from their last twelve home games in the league.
The spoils were shared in Sofia's previous game, also at home. Visiting Levski Sofia travelled back with a draw after a 3-3 scoreline. In the match before that, CSKA Sofia hosted Lokomotiv Plovdiv and drew the Parva Liga game 1-1.
As you can tell by the result above, the goals flowed freely in the previous game and the stadium rocked. Could there be another goal fest today?
There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for CSKA Sofia as they are travelling to their away game against Slavia Sofia in the Parva Liga. That match is three days after this one.
With the first game of the season soon underway, it's time to look at the results from the CSKA Sofia friendly games in pre-season: Sofia played eight friendlies, won 3, drew 1 and lost 4. If you are really into statistics you might appreciate knowing that CSKA Sofia scored 8 goals and conceded 11 in these eight games.
Botev Plovdiv form and stats
Botev Plovdiv's mission in Bulgarian Cup last season failed in the final.When we have look at the Bulgarian Cup statistics, we find 3W-1D-0L. This is both home and away. The pressure to perform on the road is increasing on F. Spasov, the Plovdiv manager, as the last three away games were defeats.
The supporters enjoyed Plovdiv's previous game versus Botev Vratsa, a Parva Liga 3-2 win played at home. Preceding that game, the 1-2 loss visiting Ludogorets's place.
The schedule is very tough for Botev Plovdiv now as they have to travel again shortly after this match. A Parva Liga game at Arda is waiting in only three days.
It's a day of discovery for Botev Plovdiv as they finally learn what impact all the hours of pre-season training, along with the changes in personnel, have had on their performance in an official game. It's never easy knowing what to expect based on friendly games, of which Botev Plovdiv have played six with the results W5-D0-L1 (win-draw-lost). In these games Botev Plovdiv has scored 17 goals and conceded 3 times.
Head 2 Head
This is not the first time this season these parties meet, as the history books show this recent fixture: Botev Plovdiv - Sofia 0-0. As for the last ten games between these two teams, there's four Sofia victories, three draws and three Botev Plovdiv wins. Over/under statistics; four of these games ended with three goals or more, six matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  A. Sowe 11 goals | E. da Silva 9 goals |   T. Nedelev 9 goals |
CSKA Sofia missing players
Botev Plovdiv missing players
| CSKA Sofia | Botev Plovdiv | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 15 | Played | P | 10 | 25 | ||
| 13 | 8 | Won | W | 6 | 15 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Drew | D | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Lost | L | 4 | 6 | ||
| 34 | 22 | Scored | S | 18 | 43 | ||
| 18 | 15 | Conceded | C | 8 | 18 | ||
| 80% | 87% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 92% | ||
| 60% | 73% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 70% | 68% | ||
| 36% | 40% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 60% | 48% | ||
| 20% | 27% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 10% | 20% | ||
| 8% | 13% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 10% | 12% | ||
| 16% | 20% | BTTS | BTTS | 40% | 44% | ||
| 68% | 60% | Clean Sheets | C S | 40% | 40% | ||
| 36% | 33% | Failed to Score | F T | 20% | 24% | ||
| 5.1 | 5.4 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.6 | 4.6 | ||
| 3.7 | 3.8 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 6.2 | 5 | ||
| 2.2 | 1.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.2 | 2.1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 3 | ||
| 240 | 135 | Total Shots | T S | 88 | 237 | ||
| 101 | 52 | Shots on Target | S O | 37 | 101 | ||
| 30% | 35% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 32% | 34% | ||