Fakel – Spartak M

Fakel will not risk playing open football against Spartak

On Saturday, 27 August, Spartak will play away against Fakel. The Voronezh club is gradually evolving from one of the most entertaining teams into a typical RPL underdog. Vasilenko's men have had a very cheerful start to the season. The team played open football against Krasnodar, then bravely acted in Grozny and snatched a draw against Dynamo, scoring three goals. That was the end of the scoring performance. Fakel changed their style and never again had more than one XG in any match. The team scored points against Ural and Krylya Sovetov with closed tactics. That said, the match in Samara was objectively the worst in terms of attack. Vasilenko's charges scored following a corner-kick. As for the rest, they tried to play without taking any unnecessary risks. Defensively, our progress is evident. Not least, it is due to the replacement of the goalkeeper. Ilya Svinov is back in the goal. He is much more reliable than Gorodovy, who has made productive errors. The obvious negative point about Fakel is the lack of victories. The club is still out of the relegation zone, but the psychological pressure is mounting. Spartak broke their unbeaten streak. Abaskal's team was unable to confirm the compliments in their match against Dinamo. They had to act against a closed and organised opponent. Spartak failed defensively on the standards. There were also problems against a packed defence. Victor Moses' lack of creativity and efficiency was immediately affected. There are still a lot of questions about Spartak. The coach has no decent rotation. The play from the bench can be bolstered by one or two options. Any injury to the leader could be fatal. In the middle of the week it was reported that Leonid Fedun left Spartak. It is possible that the times of financial stability for the Red-Whites will soon be behind them. Now there is uncertainty about the future. This fact probably makes the players nervous, too. If we take the odds for the match, Spartak are rightly labelled as favourites in the line-up. Fakel is no longer overvalued, as it was before the game with Dinamo. Nor will Voronezh risk acting boldly and taking possession of the ball. Quick attacks are Spartak's element. We don't even rule out the possibility of a home team's all-out defence. Odds on totals, as per habit, are still a little high. This is worth taking advantage of. "The Red-Whites are unlikely to thrash their opponents, but we should not expect a repeat of the Dynamo encounter. We can see a cold-blooded victory for the favourites with a difference of one or two goals.