Will Spartak stop the leader and will Dzyuba bother Zenit? Intrigues of matchday 12 of the RPL
Nikita Paglazov October 17, 2024, 21:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The new coaches begin to work in two teams.
RPL returns after the international break. Several interesting matches await us on matchday 12. In the central match, Spartak will host Krasnodar in Moscow. What other intrigues are there? Let’s figure it out.
On Friday the tour will begin with a meeting in Samara. Akron is doing well for a newcomer: 12 points and eighth place after 11 rounds. However, a real test awaits the Togliatti team: Zenit. The St. Petersburg team occupies third place in the table and plans to return to the top. Sergei Semak’s team has no intention of losing points, but Akron has a trump card in the person of Artem Dzyuba. The 36-year-old forward loves to tease his exes. Do we expect a goal from Dzyuba and problems for Zenit?
Next, the match between Akhmat and Fakel begins in Grozny. Both teams have a difficult situation in the table: the first are in last place, 16th. And the Voronezh team is ahead of Akhmat by only one point. It is surprising that the Grozny team has never achieved a victory in 11 rounds. When to win, if not now? But “Fakel” also fights for every point, so no one will give victory to “Akhmat”. The poster is not the brightest, but the match will be 100% intriguing.
On Saturday, October 19, Viktor Goncharenko will play his first official match as coach of Paris NN. Nizhny Novgorod will host Valery Karpin’s Rostov at home. The teams in the standings are separated by just one point. But Paris NN changed their coach and the Rostovites believe in Karpin. In the last six rounds, the southerners only achieved one victory and suffered four defeats. Has Karpin found a way to fix the game’s problems? We’ll find out soon. It is also interesting to look at the updated Pari NN. Goncharenko needs to build a reserve from the relegation zone/seams before the winter break.
Lokomotiv fights for RPL gold. The team won nine wins in 11 rounds and scored 27 points (like Krasnodar). Mikhail Galaktionov surprises! And Loko has great chances of adding another victory. On matchday 12 the team visits Khimki. The club from the Moscow region has not won for eight rounds and is in the playoff zone. Lokomotiv should not beat the most powerful rival. Although, perhaps on this day Khimki will break its winless streak.
The main match of matchday 12 will be played at the Lukoil Arena. Spartak will try to stop the Krasnodar leader. Murad Musayev’s team won eight games in a row and took the lead in the RPL. Will the Muscovites be able to take points from the Krasnodar team? In the last head-to-head confrontation in Moscow, Spartak won a minimal victory. The last time the teams tied was in March 2019. So one of the clubs will probably get what they want.
Saturday’s program ends with a meeting in Makhachkala. Dynamo is the lowest team in the RPL: more than two goals have never been scored in their meetings. CSKA comes to visit Dagestan. Marko Nikolic’s team has entered the top five and is only thinking about climbing further. But Dinamo’s tough defense may not allow the guests to implement their winning plan. The main intrigue: will CSKA be able to score at least two goals against the Makhachkala team? Dinamo have never conceded more than one goal at home.
Another coaching debut will take place in Orenburg: Vladimir Slishkovic came to the club instead of David Deogracia. Those from Orenburg have not won since the first round. Will the new coach be able to break the losing streak in the match against Krylia Sovetov? The Samara team “defended” coach Igor Osinkin. With a positive charge, a team can beat anyone. It will be even more interesting how the match between two emotionally charged clubs ends.
The tour ends with a meeting in Kazan. Rubin scored five points in the final three rounds and finished in seventh place. And Dynamo fell behind the top three and fell to fifth place. Coach Marcel Lička’s position at the club is no longer unconditional. The blue and white desperately need points so as not to be completely out of the championship race. And if Rubin wins, they will get closer to Dinamo. In the last round, the Muscovites disappointingly lost to CSKA (1-2) in the derby. Can you correct yourself in front of the fans?
