National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's SKA Rostov or Kuban Kholding that keep their silverware dream alive.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
SKA Rostov form and stats
Rostov was eliminated in the 1st round last season in the Russian Cup.The fans are hoping that SKA Rostov will strike back in this match, putting things right after the 0-1 away loss in the Pfl game against Anzhi. Before that, Rostov had a Pfl home game versus Spartak Nal'chik which ended with a victory 1-0.
There's a new fixture coming up fairly quickly for Rostov, as the Pfl home game vs Dinamo Stavropol' is only four days away.
SKA Rostov have prepared for this season with two friendly games versus mixed opposition. Results from training matches should always be treated with caution, but the takeaways from these two matches are 0 victories, 2 draws and 0 losses. In these games, Rostov have scored 1 goal and conceded 1 time.
Kuban Kholding form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Forte Taganrog in order to reach 2nd Round of Russian Cup. Kuban Kholding was sent out of Russian Cup in the 2nd round last season.Kuban Kholding play their second away game in a row, but can be confident going into this one after the 4-2 victory visiting Biolog. Before that, Kholding secured a home win against Essentuki with the score 2-0.
As you can tell from the result, the match against Biolog was as crazy as a clown in a village circus. Great fun for the neutral supporter with 6 goals, will the fun continue today? It's hard not to mention A. Vagidov's lethal finishing against Biolog. three goals were a big reason for the important victory.
It's a day of discovery for Kuban Kholding 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 Kuban Kholding have played two with the results W2-D0-L0 (win-draw-lost). In these games Kholding has scored 5 goals and conceded 3 times.
Head 2 Head
Top Goalscorers
  A. Vagidov 3 goals |   D. Yaskov 1 goals |  N. Piliev 1 goals |
SKA Rostov missing players
Kuban Kholding missing players
| SKA Rostov | Kuban Kholding | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 11 | Played | P | 6 | 9 | ||
| 8 | 4 | Won | W | 4 | 7 | ||
| 9 | 4 | Drew | D | 0 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Lost | L | 2 | 2 | ||
| 30 | 15 | Scored | S | 11 | 17 | ||
| 31 | 16 | Conceded | C | 10 | 10 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 76% | 91% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 83% | 89% | ||
| 44% | 64% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 67% | 44% | ||
| 20% | 27% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 50% | 33% | ||
| 8% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 33% | 22% | ||
| 60% | 73% | BTTS | BTTS | 67% | 44% | ||
| 20% | 18% | Clean Sheets | C S | 17% | 44% | ||
| 24% | 9% | Failed to Score | F T | 17% | 11% | ||
| 4.7 | 4.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3 | 2 | ||
| 4.2 | 3.3 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.5 | 3.7 | ||
| 2.3 | 1.7 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 3 | 2 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 192 | 81 | Total Shots | T S | 22 | 22 | ||
| 82 | 35 | Shots on Target | S O | 3 | 3 | ||
| 30% | 34% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 67% | 133% | ||