Tekstilshchik vs Torpedo Moskva

Torpedo Moscow host newly promoted Textilshchik in a Pervaya Liga clash that matters more for one side than the other. Torpedo sit ninth after eight rounds, still hunting a route back toward the promotion group, while Textilshchik, back in Russia's second tier for the first time in four years, are 15th and already feeling the pressure of survival football. Form has been mixed on both sides. Torpedo stumbled through a quiet run before a statement 3-0 win over Spartak Kostroma, with Dmitri Kashtanov scoring twice inside the first ten minutes. Textilshchik have been streakier still, following a heavy 1-3 defeat to leaders Nizhny Novgorod with a gritty 1-0 win at KAMAZ thanks to Artem Krutovskikh, then a 0-2 loss at Ural. The clubs' history is sparse, limited to goalless draws from their last spell together in the division. Our prediction: 2-1