WILL SPARTAK TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITY?
The central game of the tour and at least of the summer will be the confrontation between Spartak and Zenit. Obviously, there’s quite a lot of interesting here, but we’re looking at this game separately, so I’ll focus on just one moment.
The rojiblancos have not been able to beat Zenit in the championship since autumn 2017. That memorable year in which they were proclaimed champions. Of the current squad, only Alexander Selikhov, Georgy Dzhikia, Quincy Promes and Roman Zobnin, who replaced him, and Alexander Maksimenko, who remained on the bench, can be proud of that victory. That was the last season in which Saint Petersburg was not so strong, as evidenced by the fact that they finished only fifth in the end.
RIA News
And finally, in Moscow, they waited for the Brazilian samba to calm down a bit. There is no better time to break the black streak. Malcolm was gone, the attack was less deadly, and the defense (and even without the injured Rodrigao and Dmitry Chistyakov just getting back into form) was impenetrable. When, if not now, before Zenit managed to reinvest the proceeds from the sale of Malcolm in a new star?
TYUKAVIN OR CHALOV?
If it weren’t for that grandiose bill at the Otkritie Arena, the capital derby would surely become the centerpiece of the tour. Both teams started synchronously with losses, but quickly found their game and looked especially good on offense. Dynamo in the last three rounds scored eight goals, and the army team – 10, constantly scoring at least three.
RIA News
With this similarity, the style of the teams is very different. Marcel Lichka accentuates the attack, in which Konstantin Tyukavin shines (a goal from Krylia and two goals from Zenit). Vladimir Fedotov is much more rational and manually adjusts the slider on the scale from defense to attack, thanks to which he always finds weaknesses in the opponent’s game and uses them very competently. In the last two RPL matches, Anton Zabolotny, Mikhail Ryadno, Fedor Chalov, Maxim Mukhin and even Milan Gaich scored goals, not only players of different roles, but also representatives of all lines in general. Which approach would be more advantageous?
The personal intrigue of the match: Will Chalov, the career top scorer, finally score from the field (all four of his goals are from the penalty spot)?
WILL SAFONOV KEEP PERFORMING MIRACLES?
An equally interesting couple will converge in Krasnodar, where the leader of the championship will lead the railway workers who have stalled at the start. Here the situation is reversed. Both teams feel much better in the counter attack game.
They say that Vladimir Ivic received personal permission from Sergei Galitsky to put on the ball as he deems necessary. Consequently, the main weapons of the forward team are the power of John Cordoba, the intelligence of Eduard Spertsyan and the speed of the wingers.
FC Krasnodar
Loko has roughly the same set of qualities, adjusted for players, with the only difference being that they don’t have Matvey Safonov in goal to make up for defense failures. The Bulls conceded in four rounds as many as 4.46 (!) balls less than expected (Uсnderstat data). For comparison, in second place on this indicator … red-green, but from “only” 1.26 goals.
Apparently, this is where the main intrigue lies: which of the goalkeepers will achieve more feats? The outcome of the meeting will certainly depend on this.
And it is also interesting if Artyom Dziuba, whose return was announced “in the near future”, will come out after injury? The scandal with the journalist and the mass hatred is exactly what always brings the striker back to life.
WILL RAKHIMOV AVOID DISMISSAL?
You don’t have to be a prophet to realize the degree of discontent of the Kazan bosses with two points after the results of four games. Informant Ivan Karpov assures that if there are no victories in the next two, Rashid Rakhimov will lose his job. Also, the closest rival Krylya Sovetov did not lose in the current RPL draw and in terms of expected points (8.38) could overall lead the table. So, Rakhimov’s task is a great challenge. Front facing?
F.C. Rubin
WILL GONCHARENKO BE A LEADER?
Even more impresses the Samarans “Ural” Viktor Goncharenko, who lost only two points. And this despite the fact that they already had CSKA (2-1) and Spartak (3-2) in their rivals, and the composition was noticeably thinner in the absence of Yuri Gazinsky, Ray Vlut, Yegor Filipenko and Artyom Mamin. However, the Urals are second, in the event of a misfire, the “bulls” can even jump to the first line. It will be a sensation among sensations, because Goncharenko, even with CSKA, did not manage to start the season so effectively.
IS IT TIME FOR NOBOA?
Sochi suffered three defeats in a row, and the Ecuadorian midfielder, the soul and heart of the team, was only one and a half times on the field. This was enough for Akhmata to score, but against CSKA Sochi he let down Marcelo Alves, who was knocked out early in the second half, and Christian had to plow too much behind. I got in shape, I felt the rhythm, it’s time to make a difference, because Rostov is not the most stable opponent today.
RIA News
WILL THE TORCH HAVE THE FIRST POINT?
The impudent Voronezh not only did not win a single match in the RPL, but did not even score a single point, but they did not deserve such a failure in terms of the game. Yes, and Vadim Evseev knows how to squeeze the maximum out of a minimum of resources. Pari NN is just the rival with which to start the fight for salvation from relegation.
FC Fakel
WILL IT BE BETTER WITHOUT TASHUEV?
The main intrigue of the match in Grozny: will the club bosses manage to find a new coach before the opening whistle? Against the background of Akhmat, Magomed Adiev, Sergey Yuran, Miroslav Romashchenko, Stanislav Cherchesov, Murad Musaev and Evgeny Kaleshin were mentioned during the week, but at the time of writing the material for the game with Orenburg, the team was being trained by the coach from the youth team Isa Baitiev. Sergei Tashuev explained the logic of the leadership when deciding to resign him due to the desire to shake up the team. So, let’s see how effective this logic is.
