Monaco and CSKA out to earn Group C advantage

Four draws in the six fixtures so far has ensured UEFA Champions League Group E is incredibly tight at the halfway stage. With a one-point advantage at the summit, AS Monaco FC are eyeing a victory over PFC CSKA Moskva.

• In the first competitive meeting between the sides, on matchday three, Bernardo Silva equalised for Monaco late on in Moscow, cancelling out Lacina Traoré's opener against the club that loaned him out in the summer.

• It meant the Russian side stayed at the foot of the table on two points – but only three adrift of the leaders.

Match background

Monaco
• Third in Ligue 1 last season, Monaco faced Russian opponents in their last UEFA Champions League participation in 2014/15, beating FC Zenit 2-0 at home with Fabinho one of the scorers. They drew 0-0 away.

• In nine UEFA contests with Russian rivals, Monaco's record overall is W3 D3 L3.

• This season, the French side got their seventh group stage campaign off to a great start with a 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur FC, and then snatched an added-time equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

• Monaco, returning to the UEFA Champions League after a season's absence, came through two qualifying rounds to reach the group stage, beating Fenerbahçe SK (4-3 on aggregate) and Villarreal CF (3-1 agg).

CSKA
• The Russian champions recovered a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 at Leverkusen at the start of their tenth group stage campaign. They were unable to build on that, however, losing 1-0 at home to Tottenham in their second fixture.

• In their fourth successive group stage campaign, Leonid Slutski's side will be eager to improve on last season's performance when they finished bottom of Group B (W1 D1 L4).

• They have lost eight of their last ten away games in the group stage of this competition, their solitary success coming in a 2-1 win at Manchester City FC on matchday four in 2014/15.

• Before the matchday three fixture, CSKA's records home and away against French foes were identical: W2 D1 L2.

• In the 2004/05 UEFA Cup quarter-final they beat AJ Auxerre 4-0 at home to set up a 4-2 aggregate success en route to lifting the trophy.

Coach and player links
• Traoré joined CSKA on loan from Monaco in the summer. The French club had signed him from another Russian side, FC Anji, in 2014.

• João Moutinho played for Sporting Clube de Portugal when they were beaten by CSKA in the 2005 UEFA Cup final. Igor Akinfeev, Vasili Berezutski, Aleksei Berezutski and Sergei Ignashevich helped the Russian side to their 3-1 victory.

Match facts

Monaco
• Monaco struck five second-half goals in defeating Montpellier Hérault SC 6-2 at home 21 October.

• Kylian Mbappé, 17, registered his first goal of the season in that game before providing an assist for Valère Germain.

• Radamel Falcao opened the scoring against Montpellier from the spot in his first appearance since being concussed versus OGC Nice on 21 September.

• On Saturday, Monaco drew 1-1 at AS Saint-Étienne, Kamil Glik scoring their fifth-minute opener.

• Five of Fabinho's six goals this term have been penalties – all eight of his goals in 2015/16 were spot kicks.

• Nabil Dirar (left calf) has not featured since being substituted early on against Tottenham.

CSKA
• Roman Eremenko serves the second of a two-game suspension.

• CSKA have lost five of their last eight fixtures in all competitions. They were on a 16-match unbeaten run in the Premier-Liga before the 2-0 reverse at FC Rostov on 2 October.

• Akinfeev made his 350th league appearance – a record for a single Russian club – as CSKA suffered a 1-0 defeat at FC Lokomotiv Moskva on 23 October.

• On Saturday, CSKA came off worse in another Moscow derby, losing 3-1 at FC Spartak Moskva. That was Akinfeev's 500th competitive game for the club.

• Slutski celebrated seven years as CSKA coach on 26 October.

• Aleksandrs Cauņa is still recovering from the ankle operation he had in July.