CSKA – Zenit

The giants may well play cautious football

CSKA play at home against Zenit on Wednesday 29 June. The Army club will start in the Match Premier Cup. The team will play a total of three games. For the St Petersburg grandee, on the other hand, it is already the final encounter. Zenit have just two points so far. According to the regulations, one point is given for winning a penalty shoot-out. Thus, if Zenit do not win in regulation time, they cannot count on a trophy. Previously, Sergei Semak's charges have drawn twice. First, in a match with a big advantage, they could not beat Nizhny Novgorod. Then, there was a roughly even game with Sochi. Zenit had more possession, but not to say that they created many scoring chances. Zelimkhan Bakayev had a significant impact on the encounter. The footballer plays with very high motivation. Zelimkhan managed to score the only goal against Sochi. Defence and the goalkeeping line traditionally have a lot of questions. Zenit have not reinforced a new goalkeeper. Mikhail Kerzhakov is out as the main performer. Sergei Semak applies significant rotation in friendly matches. In particular, young defender Skrobotov has a lot of playing time. Of the internationals, Juri Alberto is unavailable at the moment. It is very likely that the Brazilian will not play for Zenit anymore. CSKA under Vladimir Fedotov has played only one friendly match. The club faced Velez from the FNL. The result was somewhat unexpected - 0-2. The Army Men played without their leading internationals. Only Adolfo Geitsch was fielded in the attacking line. Medina, Carrascal and Ejoke missed the meeting. Without them, the Army Men did not look stronger than their organized opponents from the second-tier league. It is far from certain that the foreigners will also be ready for the game against Zenit. At the moment the Piters have a significant advantage in the pace of preparation. There has been uncertainty about the new coach at CSKA for a long time. There is also confusion about the foreigners. Leader Yusuf Yazıcı has left the club, although he was the anchor of the attacking game. Gbamen, a key holding midfielder, is also missing. Vladimir Fedotov has a lot of work to do at the moment. The bookmakers expect the encounter to be productive. So far, an objectively high total is being given. Fedotov is not a supporter of open football. In the game with Zenit, such an approach could lead to a rout. It should be another typical training camp match. A third consecutive draw for Zenit cannot be ruled out. Semak will definitely use two different lineups. They might even save the players for the match against Crvena Zvezda.