Spartak M – Dynamo M

Spartak don’t look like favourites against Dynamo

On Saturday, 23 September, Spartak will play at home against Dynamo. "Red-Whites" have overcome the crisis and occupy the sixth place in the RPL. The Bilo-Blue have an even better situation. Marcel Licka's wards are fourth. Spartak is still very difficult to assess in the current season. The club is playing in series. The success in the Russian Cup is misleading. In the second most important tournament, the team has a very solid advantage over its opponents, as almost no one in the RPL has this kind of roster depth. In the last match they managed to defeat Nizhny Novgorod. But in the championship, it's a torment. "The Red-Whites have scored one goal in three matches. Guillermo Abascal can't decide on his starting lineup. Even the stars in the form of Bongond do not feel calm. Spartak are only fifth in terms of the amount of danger created at other people's gates in eight rounds. That's why the story of total domination and bad luck is more of a myth from last season, when such things did happen. The Red and Whites have no problems with injured players. Only Tomas Tavares is out until next year. After the defeat in the first round against Krasnodar, Dynamo gradually stabilised the game. You can see the work of Marcel Licka. In the last match there was an offensive misfire against Nizhny Novgorod. Before that, there was also an extremely unfair game with Dynamo, where the Bilo-Syni looked better. It's important that the team has an advantage over their opponents in almost every match. In the cup clash in Krasnodar, the understudies played mostly. The most important event within the draw was a goal by newcomer Bitello. The Brazilian, acquired for ten million euros, may find himself in the starting lineup already for Spartak. Also in the centre of the field was bought Mexican Luis Chavez. In other words, the squad is definitely not weaker than the Red-Whites. The club must fight for medals in the current championship. Most recently, the rivals met each other in the Russian Cup, but this match can hardly be considered indicative. Spartak scored four goals against Dynamo in 25 minutes. Such an advantage in the championship is excluded. Bookmakers give a huge advantage to the Red-Whites. It's not too clear what this balance of power is based on. Dynamo has a winless streak in the RPL, a set game and a deep squad with star newcomers. Spartak still has little certainty and many defensive errors. It makes no sense to project the Russian Cup results onto the championship. An important factor against Spartak is games against the grands. In two years with Abascal, the team has hardly ever beaten top clubs in the championship. For example, with Dinamo - two draws last season, and then the team was in much better shape. This season - unqualified defeats to Krasnodar and Zenit. Dinamo, on the other hand, calmly defeated CSKA.