Krasnodar – Orenburg

Krasnodar will not defeat Orenburg in a cautious match

Sunday. 3 November, Krasnodar will play at home against Orenburg. This is a match between the best and the worst team in the RPL. "Bulls" are aiming for a historical record of Russian football: ten consecutive victories, four more to beat the achievement of CSKA. Orenburg, on the other hand, are doing terribly - last place even after the change of coach. Krasnodar are on a perfect championship run. The game in Samara against Krylia Sovetov was difficult, but Jon Cordoba's magnificent goal from almost the centre of the pitch was the deciding factor. Krasnodar are on a roll right now. Everything is going very well for the club, but the lead is no accident. Murad Musayev's charges are in first place in the league in terms of advanced statistical indicators. The team creates more chances per match on average than their opponents. At the moment the club's leaders Eduard Spertsyan and John Cordoba have gained form. The Colombian is the bookmakers' top favourite in the scorer's race, although he didn't score at all in the first rounds. Another plus is the absence of serious injuries. The southerners can count on a decent squad in every match, although injuries could have a negative impact - there is no stock of players like Zenit. Orenburg is one of the main disappointments of the season. The outsider has played some nice attacking football for several years, but this year it is the difficulties in defence that have come to the fore. The situation is perfectly illustrated by the statistics of Saeed Saharkhizan. The Iranian rookie has broken into the RPL and is scoring regularly, even claiming a place in the league's top three scorers, but it's not helping the team at all. Orenburg have not won since the first round. Even the resignation of head coach David Deograsia has not helped. Vladimir Slishkovich started very badly - no wins in two rounds. Orenburg first failed to beat Krylya Sovetov (2:2) at home, and then unexpectedly lost at home to Rubin (1:2). Slishkovic is not yet rebuilding to an overly defensive model, as he did at Spartak. It is very likely that the outsider will play much easier in the coming rounds - there is virtually no choice left. Krasnodar's line has already dropped to abnormal levels against Orenburg. This is not entirely fair - a rout is by no means guaranteed. Krasnodar may well be satisfied with a minimal victory. Orenburg are dangerous in attack - Sakharkhizan will surely find their chances. The "bulls" have already had similar misfires with outsiders in the first rounds. Obviously, the team was still gaining form then, but a draw with Dinamo Makhachkala at home is a reason to fear a relegation scenario in the next meeting as well.