CSKA – Zenit

CSKA Moscow and Zenit will surely play productive football

The central match of the third-from-last round of the Russian Premier League will take place in Moscow. Zenit continues to chase Krasnodar, which has a one-point lead over its rival in the standings. Bookmakers ahead of the start of the 28th matchday of the Russian Championship named Krasnodar the favorite in the race for the championship trophy for the first time this season. This is unlikely to affect players from Saint Petersburg, as in the match against CSKA they only need a win, regardless of external circumstances. The blue-and-white camp is in good shape. Gustavo Mantuan continues to recover, Vadim Shilov has been out with an injury for a long time. However, a fairly wide core of players will allow Sergei Semak to weather both losses without issue. CSKA will go into the match with very limited league motivation. Finishing in the top three for the Army Men is unlikely, and in the crisis period they are experiencing it's hard to get fired up even for Zenit. The main distracting factor for CSKA is the upcoming final of the Path of Regions in the Russian Cup, scheduled three full days after the match with the country's runner-up. If in the Premier League the Army Men have long lost chances for something serious, then in the Russian Cup they can win a full trophy and brighten what would seem to be a disastrous season. Under these circumstances, it's unlikely that anyone in Fabio Celestini's squad is approaching the upcoming match as if it were the last battle. The Swiss coach also has personnel problems. If there is someone to replace Igor Akinfeev in the squad, Celestini won't be able to cope painlessly with the losses of Moises and Kirill Glebov. CSKA have been underperforming in recent weeks. In the four most recent matches, the Army Men have earned only three points from twelve possible. Moreover, their only defeat came at the same stadium where Zenit will host them. It occurred after the match against Sochi, the last-placed club in the Premier League. In the first leg, the opponents drew 1-1 in Saint Petersburg, but CSKA were in a completely different form then. Zenit will win the upcoming match and become the league leader for at least one day.