Will CSKA stop Zenit and will Karpin lose again in Krasnodar? Intrigues of the eighth round of the RPL
Kirill Zakatchenko September 12, 2024, 20:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Dynamo is expecting a meeting with an uncomfortable coach.
Did you miss RPL? The first international break of the new season is coming to an end and a new tour starts on September 13th. What interesting things await us this coming weekend?
The eighth round programme will start with a match in Kazan, where the Krylia Sovetov players will arrive. The Samara team has problems in away matches. Not only did it not score a single point away from home (two defeats), but it also did not score a single goal. However, before that, Igor Osinkin’s team only flew to Moscow, where it lost to both Spartak (0:3) and Dynamo (0:1).
Rubin has already scored 11 goals this season, more than Spartak or Krasnodar. The Kazan club is in the middle of the table (eighth place), but in terms of points in home games it is in 14th place. For “Wings”, a trip to Tatarstan is a tough test. In the 21st century, the rivals met 17 times in Kazan in the Russian Championship. The Samara club has only two wins and 12 goals scored. Rubin has 13 wins and 33 goals.
Lokomotiv surprised us pleasantly at the start of the season. However, Mikhail Galaktionov’s team played shamefully in the last match before the break. Krasnodar crushed the railwaymen (3-0) and goalkeeper Ilya Lantratov made a complete mistake. Nevertheless, the red-green team occupies a high place in the table (third) two points behind the leader of the RPL.
Orenburg had a nine-match winless streak in all competitions. In the last round, David Deograci’s team was saved from defeat in the match against Dynamo thanks to a goal in added time. So far, Orenburg is outside the play-off zone, but ahead of Khimki only in additional indicators. Loko has been playing very well in Orenburg lately: three wins in a row (we are talking only about the RPL). In these matches, the railwaymen scored a total of nine goals.
The most important game in terms of the fight for survival. Perhaps it sounds too strong, considering that there are still two-thirds of the distance ahead. “Fakel” scores the least (three goals in the RPL, like Dynamo Mx), and “Pari NN” loses the most (15). And the Nizhny Novgorod club has never beaten an opponent away from home in the RPL. Moreover, it has never scored. 2:0, 1:0 – this is how the matches between the Voronezh teams ended. All of “Fakel’s” home games this season in the RPL turned out to be “base” (less than three goals per game). Will it be like this time too?
The central game of the eighth round. An interesting detail. Marko Nikolic has never beaten Zenit (two draws, three losses). The only trip to St. Petersburg (May 2021) was remembered for a long time by the Serb – a 1:6 defeat. But now the match will be played in the capital. On the other hand, CSKA has gone six games in a row without losing to Zenit in regular time. The last two trips to the army team’s stadium in the RPL did not bring victory to the guests. First, Sergei Semak’s team lost 0:1, and then escaped defeat thanks to a set-piece goal at the end – 1:1. Recently, CSKA has become an uncomfortable opponent for Zenit, but that was under Vladimir Fedotov. And now the red-and-blues have a different coach.
The last match of the Saturday tour programme will take place in Krasnodar. The next southern derby will be held here. The Bulls continue to produce streaks. First we drew three times in a row, and then we managed to win four times. As a result, Murad Musaev’s team rose to second place in the table. Only Zenit is above them. Rostov has already lost twice away from home and conceded a total of eight goals in those matches. Krasnodar has not suffered a single defeat this season. Rostov traditionally plays poorly at the Bulls’ stadium. The teams played 14 RPL matches there, and the guests managed only one victory. Of the last 10 matches in Krasnodar, Rostov has conceded at least two goals in nine cases.
Dynamo had a poor performance in the previous two matches of the championship. First, Marcel Lička’s team lost at home to Krasnodar (0:1) and then missed the away win against Orenburg (2:2). Thus, the blue-and-whites went into the September break in the sixth place in the table. The capital team plays well at home (three wins in four matches). “Akhmat” changed coach during a break in the championship: Sergei Tashuev took the place of Magomed Adiev. His task is not easy, because Akhmat is now in the direct relegation zone. It is curious that Tashuev’s teams have not lost to Dynamo in five matches in a row (three wins, two draws).
Another important game in the fight for survival. Both teams are in the play-off zone, so both need points. Akron has not yet scored a single point at home (two losses in two games) and has scored only one goal. Khimki, on the other hand, has more points away than at home (four against two). Last season the teams competed in the First League. Akron lost at home (0-2), and in the Moscow region the rivals shared the points 2-2.
Spartak has already lost to Makhachkala this season. It was in the Russian Cup, then Dynamo won 1-0 in Moscow. The red-and-whites went on a six-match unbeaten run in the RPL and finished fourth in the table. Dynamo is in ninth place, but has managed two wins in the last three rounds. Makhachkala has a very weak attack (three goals conceded), while Spartak has a good defence (three goals conceded). How will Stankovic’s first trip to Dagestan end?
