MK-Sport continues the traditional rubric, in which not only the matches of the next round of the Russian Premier League are announced, but also forecasts are given. Especially for you, we have collected all the useful information about the upcoming games in one place: from statistics of personal meetings of opponents to the total cost of players of each club. We hope that with our help it will be easier for you to understand the pre-match layouts.
WINGS OF SOVIETS (Samara) – URAL (Yekaterinburg)
14.00 (hereinafter Moscow time). Samara. “Solidarity-Arena” (capacity – 44,918 spectators)
Total cost of players: € 25,350,000 / € 19,200,000
Chief Arbiter : Kirill Levnikov (St. Petersburg)
Head coaches : Igor Osinkin / Igor Shalimov
Leaders : Ivan Sergeev / Eric Bikfalvi
Last meeting in Samara: 2: 3
Overall balance of meetings : + 6 = 11–7, 31:32
The last 5 matches of Krylia Sovetov in the RPL : + 4 = 0-1, 8: 3
The last 5 matches of Ural in the RPL : + 1 = 2-2, 1: 2
MK-Sport: If at the start of the season the potential of the “wings” and “bumblebees” seemed to be about the same, then by the last round of the first round of the national championship today’s rivals came up in different statuses. Samarans occupy the sixth place in the standings, and only a couple of points separate them from the European cups zone, while the Urals take the last place alone. Igor Shalimov is trying to rectify a difficult tournament situation, but points, like goals, are given to his team with great difficulty. But the team of Igor Osinkin scored an excellent move at the end of autumn, confidently beating the middle peasants and outsiders, while justifiably claiming points in meetings with the leaders. The leader of the home team’s attacks, Ivan Sergeev, is in good shape and in good spirits.
But this match will hardly be fun. Of course, the news of the death of ex-Samara footballer Denis Kovba, who died the other day from coronavirus, will leave an imprint on the game.
The favorites of the meeting are undoubtedly Samara, as it is not difficult to guess which game plan Shalimov will choose. His team, which he, like most coaches, began to build on defense, will again focus on the safety of their own goal. In the previous round, Bumblebees were able to nullify the efforts of Zenit’s attacking line, earning an honorable draw in the match with the reigning Russian champion, but tune in to play number two against Wings of the Soviets, which many still perceive as one of the outsiders, will be much more difficult.
Prediction : 1: 0
LOCOMOTIVE (Moscow) – AHMAT (Grozny)
16.30. Moscow. Lokomotiv Stadium (28 800 spectators)
Total player value: € 97,030,000 / € 26,250,000
Chief Arbiter : Sergei Ivanov (Rostov-on-Don)
Head coaches : Markus Gisdol / Andrey Talalaev
Leaders : Marinato Guilherme / Andrey Semenov
Last meeting in Moscow : 2: 3
Overall balance of meetings : + 16 = 8–5, 50:19
Lokomotiv’s last 5 RPL matches : + 2 = 2-1, 8: 7
The last 5 matches of “Akhmat” in the RPL : + 2 = 0-3, 4: 5
MK-Sport : With the arrival of Markus Gisdol, who replaced Marko Nikolic, on the coaching bridge, the railroad workers have not yet lost (2 wins and 2 draws), but in terms of the number of matches in which no winner has been identified, Loko confidently takes the first a place in the RPL, which does not honor one of the medal contenders. “Akhmat”, on the other hand, together with “Sochi” is the club that has never been at odds with rivals in the world in the championship. Grozny will definitely not become an easy opponent for the red-greens, but they will hardly be able to outplay much better equipped Muscovites on their field. Taking into account the denial of draws by the guests, we are betting on the victory of the hosts.
Prediction : 1: 0
“KRASNODAR” (Krasnodar) – “SPARTAK” (Moscow)
19.00. Krasnodar. Krasnodar Stadium (35,059 spectators)
Total player value: € 113,250,000 / € 125,400,000
Chief Arbiter : Alexey Sukhoi (Lyubertsy)
Head coaches : Viktor Gancharenko / Rui Vitoria
Leaders : Matvey Safonov / Georgy Dzhikia
Last meeting in Krasnodar : 1: 3
Overall balance of meetings : + 7 = 2-15, 32:47
The last 5 matches of Krasnodar in the RPL : + 1 = 2-2, 5: 4
The last 5 matches of Spartak in the RPL : +1 = 3-1, 6:11
MK-Sport : The previous meeting of these rivals in Krasnodar ended with a victory for the Muscovites (3: 1), and the last meeting in general, which happened in March of this year, turned out to be the biggest defeat for the bulls in their short history (1: 6). Revanchist sentiments will certainly help the home team to some extent, but they are unlikely to become the leitmotif of the meeting.
Both Spartak and Krasnodar are experiencing similar game problems. Having an undoubtedly high-quality selection of performers by RPL standards and spending quite a lot of time in the attack, both Muscovites and Krasnodar cannot boast of high performance and acceptable implementation of chances to score. The undoubted advantage of Viktor Gancharenko’s team is the goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, who is gradually acquiring the status of the first number of the Russian national team and absolutely deservedly recognized as the best player in the recent match with Croatia. But with regard to the red and white, not everything is in order with the goalkeeper’s position, and there are significant personnel losses among field players.
First of all, we are talking about the injured Roman Zobnin. Ruslan Litvinov, who is gradually acquiring the status of the main player, who misses the 15th round due to disqualification, will not help his team in the central zone. Traditionally, the meeting of these rivals is expected to have a productive game, but given the weak play of each of the teams in the attack and the presence of great goalkeepers at the goal, this time there is no need to expect a scoring extravaganza.
Prediction : 1: 1
