Zenit – CSKA

CSKA can put up a fight in St Petersburg

Zenit take on CSKA at home on Saturday, 13 August. The St Petersburg club can be said to represent two versions of themselves so far: one for home games and the other for away games. On home soil, Zenit defeated Krylia Sovetov and Lokomotiv, scoring eight goals. On the other hand, the situation on away fields is extremely unpleasant. Zenit managed not to beat Khimki. Zenit had a very tough game against Akhmat. At the moment the reigning champion dropped out of the top three in the RPL. The situation for Zenit is complicated by the injury of Claudinho. The Brazilian is by far the best attacking player in RPL. Now Claudinho will be out for a month at best. Sergei Semak is now forced to use Zelimkhan Bakayev. It is definitely not an equivalent replacement for the Brazilian. His attacking potential will be significantly reduced. Zenit also have difficulties in defence. The club never signed a central defender. Lovren is performing below the expected level. Goalkeeper Odoevsky still makes mistakes far from the hardest moments. Kerzhakov, who has not featured among the best goalkeepers in the RPL for a long time, will play in the match against the Muscovites. CSKA, on the other hand, are in peak form, having only lost points against Nizhny Novgorod in four rounds, and even then their opponent was largely fortunate. CSKA paid the price for their own slackness. The Army team was winning 2-0, but let the vicotry to slip off their hands. CSKA switched to a new structure with three central defenders. The team looks decent defensively and offensively. The internationals Carrascal and Medina play a decisive role in attack. In terms of performance there is no huge difference with Zenit's Brazilians. Bookmakers traditionally give fairly low odds on Zenit in any home game. The Claudinho factor is very important at the moment. The hosts do not have any consistency in their game. The team are too dependent on their leader. Last season, Fedotov took four points from Sergei Semak in a head-to-head duel, although he did not have a similar resource in Sochi. It will be even more difficult for Zenit to cope with CSKA. It is logical to assume that the St Petersburg club will also be satisfied with a modest one-goal victory. However, we expect goals from CSKA as well.