Zenit Saint Petersburg host Europa League Group C rivals Copenhagen on Thursday night at the Krestovsky Stadium. Sergei Semak’s Zenit lead Group C with eight points. The Russians are just three points ahead of Copenhagen following four games.
A win would qualify Zenit for the knockout stage while Copenhagen need Slavia Prague to lose to Bordeaux in the other Group C match to have any chance of qualification on the final matchday.
The two clubs met on matchday 1 in Denmark with the game ending in a 1-1 draw. Copenhagen came from behind in the second half to gain a point thanks to a 63rd minute Pieros Sotiriou goal.
Zenit have won their two home games in the Europa League outscoring opponents 3-1. Copenhagen’s one win in the competition came away from home against Bordeaux. They continued their good away form with a draw versus Slavia, nil-nil. Away from the Parken Stadium Copenhagen have outscored their opponents 2-1.
Semak’s Zenit are the Russian Premier League leaders and sit five points ahead of second-place Krasnador. They warmed up for their Europa League fixture with a 2-0 win over Rostov at the weekend. Copenhagen also won at the weekend, 2-1, over Midtjylland.
The win over Midtjylland places them at the top of the Danish Superliga table by a mere three points. Due to the importance of their league match, Copenhagen may be fatigued going into the contest with Zenit. Copenhagen didn’t play well against Midtjylland and manager Stale Solbakken was upset over his team’s fatigue in the later stages of the game.
Weather could be an issue as the northern Russian city sees temperatures drop quickly this time of year. Snow fell on Russian team CSKA Moscow in their Champions League match on Tuesday. Zenit are the sportsbooks’ favourite for the fixture. Semak’s team has scored at least one goal in all four of their Europa League matches.
Goals haven’t been plentiful in their games, however, with just one Zenit Europa League match ending with more than 2.5 goals. Similarly, just one of Copenhagen’s matches has featured more than 2.5 goals. In fact, there have been fewer than 2.5 goals scored in five of Copenhagen's last six Europa League games. Copenhagen average just 0.8 goals in their domestic league, so don’t expect goals to fly in from their players on Thursday.
This Europa League match will be a low-scoring affair. Zenit will get the vital home goal to send them through to the knockout stages, however. Zenit will win and leave Copenhagen fighting for qualification on the final matchday.