Lokomotiv M – Akhmat

Akhmat will not disappoint its fans in the opening round.

Lokomotiv Moscow approached the middle of the previous season as one of the contenders for the championship title. The team had gone a long stretch without a defeat, and the role of conductor of the Railwaymen's play was firmly taken over by the young Aleksei Batrakov. Unfortunately, his players could not maintain the elevated standard in the second half of the season. Lokomotiv's spring victories can be counted on one hand, and finishing in third place was based not so much on the Moscow club's high level of play as on the sluggishness of its Moscow rivals CSKA and Spartak. Toward the end of the season Batrakov's agents carried out such a whirlwind of activity for the profitable sale of their client that the number of rumors about the player's transfer to PSG and other star clubs, as well as information about Aleksei studying foreign languages, occasionally appeared in the media more often than refereeing scandals. Although the latter topic, as it seems, remains a stable leader in the Russian information space. In general, shortly before the resumption of the Premier League Batrakov was still a Lokomotiv player, and the main contender for him was Istanbul's Galatasaray. The main loss in the ranks of the Railwaymen at the moment is Dmitry Vorobyov, sold to Krasnodar for a substantial sum. Lokomotiv wasn't rich in reinforcements either. As a free agent, Georgiy Djikiya joined the team, and in Sochi Alexander Kovalenko was loaned. Akhmat continues to be coached by Stanislav Cherchesov, who in the off-season was linked with Moscow clubs. The experienced coach managed to make the Grozny side ninth at the end of the past season, which fixed progress compared with the previous championship. Akhmat was active on the transfer market during the summer break. The main newcomer of the team for now can be considered Kirill Shchetinin, acquired from Rostov. Two more interesting players went to the Grozny side for free: Arsen Adamov from Zenit and Kalidu Sidibe from Gengama. Erald Maksuti could also prove himself at Akhmat, acquired from Flamurtari for 700 thousand euros. During the off-season Cherchesov's team did not lose any of the six friendlies, winning five. There is no reason to regard Akhmat as the underdog in the Moscow match.