Dynamo M – Lokomotiv M

Lokomotiv should not be considered an outsider in the derby against Dynamo

Dynamo take on Lokomotiv at home on Sunday 28 May. It's a pretty poster, but it makes no tournament sense. The Moscow giants are stuck in the middle of the table. Dinamo will not rise above fifth place and Lokomotiv will not be above eighth. The railroaders are already building the team with the goal for next season. They're doing a great job so far. Mikhail Galaktinov's charges are among the top three teams in the league in terms of their play in the second half of the season. The coach has done a tremendous job. Lokomotiv has been hitting the opponents' goals in every game. Injuries also had no impact on the club's rise. In the last meeting with Fakel the club could not count on Dzyuba, Pinyaev and Magkaev. A very serious loss of three key performers. Zheleznodorozhnyy still got the better of Fakel. In the centre of defence, an experimental combination of young defenders Pogostnov-Kuzmichev played for the first time. The young players did their job well. A motivated Fakel took only two shots on target. With the recovery of Izidor, Lokomotiv now have a very deep attacking line. Ivan Ignatiev is also in the rotation. Plus Dzyuba has recovered for the match against Dynamo. In fact, Galaktionov has a choice of two performers per position in the attack. Pinyayev can also come on from the opening minutes in the Moscow derby. Surprisingly, the coach even managed to solve the problem of motivation. Lokomotiv have been operating without any tournament goals for virtually a month now, but have been steadily picking up points and avoiding defeat. Dynamo have a better situation in the table, but worse in terms of prospects. The team survived the resignation of Jokanovic. The future looks murky. So far the club has entrusted the young coach Alpatov, but Dinamo do not hide the fact that the new mentor is a temporary figure. Without Jokanovic, the Bilo-Syni managed to defeat Torpedo. That result is no indicator at all. The opponents were too weak. The stand-out performance by Arsen Zakharyan. The player was silent for a long time, but he made a quality performance immediately after Jokanovic's departure. Dinamo also have difficulties with their squad due to injuries. Three defenders are out: Fernandes, Majstorovic and Sazonov. Without them the young Kuticki is out in the centre of defence. Bookmakers highlight Dynamo as a very big favourite. There is a very strange trend of underestimating Lokomotiv in 2023. The railroaders lost in the second part of the season only to Zenit. At the same time, the club continue to lead from an outsider's position in most encounters. Lokomotiv have a near-optimal attacking line-up. Dzyuba hardly needs motivation for the Moscow derby, as do the other attacking players. Lokomotiv have structure, which is not the case for Dynamo.