Zenit St. Petersburg are three points above Russian Premier League rivals Dynamo Moscow going into matchday 13 of the season. On Friday night, the two teams will play at the Gazprom Arena with first place in the league on the line.
Sergey Semak’s team are coming off of a 7-1 thrashing of Spartak Moscow last time out. The win came at exactly the right time for Zenit as they ended a two-match Premier League losing streak.
7️⃣ goals in 2️⃣0️⃣ seconds. Enjoy! #ZenitSpartak #ElKlasikov pic.twitter.com/SwbvpEBMrD— FC Zenit in English✨ (@fczenit_en) October 26, 2021
7️⃣ goals in 2️⃣0️⃣ seconds. Enjoy! #ZenitSpartak #ElKlasikov pic.twitter.com/SwbvpEBMrD
Dynamo Moscow are unbeaten in back-to-back games, which helped gain on Zenit during the league leader’s two-game losing spell. The capital club are coming off of a 4-1 win over Khimki.
The home team has won the last three matches in the Premier League between these teams. Zenit claimed all three points at the Gazprom Arena last term 3-1. The Lions were up 2-0 by halftime.
Zenit have been nearly perfect at home this season with 15 points achieved from 18 available. Semak’s team has outscored opponents 17-7 at home.
The team is led in goals by Sardar Azmoun. He has seven goals in 10 matches for the Lions. Yaroslav Rakitskiy has tallied four assists to lead the side. Semak has three players on the injury list going into the game.
Forward Malcom is nursing a knock and is a major doubt to be ready for the game. Douglas Santos is ruled out until mid-November with a leg injury. Midfielder Magomed Ozdoev is a major doubt due to a ligament issue.
Dynamo manager Sandro Schwarz has led the team to the best away points total in the league. The club has taken 13 points from 18 available on the road. They have outscored opponents 10-6 during that timeframe.
Daniil Fomin leads the team in goals with five in 12 matches. Arsen Zakharian has five assists to lead the team.
Schwarz could be without up to three players for the game on Friday night. Midfielders Denis Markarov and Diego Laxalt are both ruled out of the fixture. Daniil Lesovoy is a long-term absentee. He won’t be back until the spring due to an ACL injury.
The 2013-14 Premier League season was the last time that Dynamo Moscow won in St. Petersburg. Zenit have won seven straight league matches at the Gazprom Arena.
That trend will continue as Zenit win at home against Dynamo Moscow with both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals scored. The last two games at the Gazprom finished with over 2.5 goals scored and that trend will continue as well.