“Zenit” – “Lokomotiv”: will the teams score goals? "Zenit" - "Lokomotiv". Starting lineups and forecast for the match Zenit's personnel losses before the match with Lokomotiv

On September 23 in St. Petersburg at 16:30 local time, Zenit will host Lokomotiv Moscow in the eighth round of the Russian Championship. The hosts are unbeaten in the Premier League and occupy first place. Guests are seated in the middle standings.

"Zenith"

The team takes first place, having stumbled only once. 19 points were scored in 7 rounds. Semak's team did not win in the 6th round, playing 0:0 at home with Spartak.

Zenit conceded in two out of seven matches. The St. Petersburg team scored a little - 12 goals. In one round, the blue-white-sky blues scored more than twice - 4:1 in the confrontation with Ural.

This week, Semak’s team played against Copenhagen in the Europa League in Denmark. Having opened the scoring, the Russians did not maintain their minimal advantage. After a 5 series of victories in the RPL and LE, the team won only once in the next 4 games.

"Locomotive"

The team cannot boast of a successful start to the season. Semin’s team lost to CSKA in the Super Cup in extra time, failed in the RPL and the opening game of the Champions League. Loko has not won yet this month.

In the national championship, the “red-greens” acquired only 9 points in 7 rounds and occupy 10th place. The Railwaymen defeated the teams that are in the table below: Krylia and Anzhi.

In the first game of the Champions League, the Russians lost to Galataras in Turkey with a score of 0:3. Lokomotiv has noticeable problems in attack. In 9 matches of the season, he scored 5 goals and conceded 9.

Personal meetings

Last season, Loko beat the enemy twice: 0:3 in St. Petersburg and 1:0 in Moscow. In just 5 games in the RPL, Zenit won one victory and drew twice. The team needs to win in order to improve the statistics of head-to-head matches.

Statistics

• The +1 handicap on Loko played in 5 out of 6 recent head-to-head meetings in the RPL.
• The “both won’t score” outcome took place in 7 of the last 8 head-to-head duels in the championship.

Statistics alone are not enough to make a bet. Be sure to consider other factors, such as motivation, rosters, team atmosphere, etc.

Team compositions

The injured Noboa will not help the hosts. Kokorin, Zhirkov, Mammana and Terentyev are undergoing rehabilitation. The guests have Krychowiak disqualified, Rybus and Kolomeitsev are injured.

Zenit's tentative lineup: Lunev, Ivanovich, Smolnikov, Nabiullin, Neto, Paredes, Kuzyaev, Erokhin, Shatov, Dzyuba, Druissi.

Lokomotiv's tentative lineup: Guilherme, Chorluka, Kverkvelia, Ignatiev, Lysov, Miranchuk Al., Farfan, Denisov, Fernandes, Miranchuk An., Barinov.

Match information:

• Tournament: Russian Premier League (8th round)
• Date: 09.23.2018
• Start: 15:30 Moscow time
• Stadium: St. Petersburg
• Forecast: see bottom of page

Zenit and Lokomotiv will play each other on Sunday, September 23, as part of the 8th round of the RFPL 2018-2019. The confrontation between these clubs could be called central in the entire eighth round, but the match between CSKA and Spartak, which is called the Moscow Derby, causes even more excitement among football fans, so it can be called central.

As for the “anti-aircraft gunners” and “railroad workers”, their head-to-head duel is also very interesting, since they are the giants of Russian football. Now we will briefly review the situation in each club, and then move on to the forecast.

St. Petersburg Zenit is the championship leader

Under the leadership of Sergei Semak, the “blue-white-sky blues” are doing well in the national championship, taking first place in the standings. In the summer, Zenit did not strengthen its already strong squad. Now Semak has many high-quality football players at his disposal. He, unlike many other RFPL participants, can afford to play as a main player in one match, and in the second carry out a radical rotation, replacing 5-6 players who will not be much inferior in level key figures composition.

This season, Zenit looks especially good in defense. Over the 7 rounds played, the St. Petersburg team conceded only 2 goals, and this is one of the best results in the league today. As for the attack, it is also at its best in this club, and in every match it certainly pleases its fans with goals scored.

Moscow Lokomotiv – unsuccessful start after the championship

It’s difficult to answer what’s going on with Yuri Semin’s team now. Over 7 rounds, Loko won only 2 matches, and is now in the middle of the standings, while other contenders for gold in the 18/19 Russian Championship have gained a significant distance and feel good at the top of the standings.

In the off-season, Lokomotiv strengthened itself well, purchasing such famous football players as Grzegorz Krychowiak and Fedor Smolov. But even these people cannot yet rehabilitate Semin’s team, which looked great in the last Premier League. It is worth noting that the goal difference of the “red-greens” is 5:5. The tour is very clear - the capital’s team is now out of shape.

Zenit vs Lokomotiv: team lineups for the match

It is likely that both coaches will send their teams to the game with the following lineups:

• Zenith: Lunev, Ivanovich, Smolnikov, Nabibullin, Netu, Erokhin, Kuzyaev, Shatov, Dzyuba, Peredes, Driussi.
• Locomotive: Guilherme, Chorluka, Ignatiev, Kverkvelia, Lysov, Krychowiak, Denisov, Alexey Miranchuk, Anton Miranchuk, Fernandes, Eder.

Forecast and odds for the match

According to bookmakers, the St. Petersburg club should win the Zenit - Loko match. The bookmaker presented the following odds for the main outcomes of the match:

• P1 – 1.90
• Draw – 3.55
• P2 – 4.71

If you look at the statistics of the teams in the past 5 head-to-head meetings, the following picture emerges: the “railroad workers” won twice, a draw was recorded twice more, and only once did the St. Petersburg team manage to win.

Now Sergei Semak’s squad looks more united, more teamed and stronger, especially since the “anti-aircraft gunners” will play in their home arena..

In this confrontation, it is best to bet on the outcome - a clear win for Zenit for 1.90.

Match start date and time: 09.23.2018, 16:30 (Moscow time).
Location: St. Petersburg, stadium "St. Petersburg".
Chief referee: Roman Galimov, Ulan-Ude.

Zenit: current state

Zenit is the championship leader with 19 points. After the failures of Lucescu and Mancini, no one will crown the St. Petersburg team in advance. Only if there is a five-point lead 3-4 rounds before the finish. Semak wants to build a dominant game in attack, but so far this has been achieved with varying degrees of success. In the last round with Orenburg, the four-time Russian champions played in a variety of ways: there were many high-quality positional raids, and there were also many attacks on Dzyuba and Erokhin. And Zenit, in principle, coped with the opponent’s attacks.

In the European Cup match, problems with creation again surfaced. “Copenhagen” is the first opponent of the St. Petersburg team to figure out how to turn Dziuba out of the game. The result is that Zenit created even more at the bottom than at the top. This had to happen at some point; the tricks couldn't work forever. And this is very good - over time, Semak will find more effective models for building attacks. Moreover, he has human resources.

The options that we have now should be enough to cope with Lokomotiv. Claudio Marchisio will take the vacant place in the center of the field, Kuzyaev will finally move to the right flank. Two fast wings Driussi and Kuzyaev, together with tall Erokhin and Dzyuba, will provide variety of actions. Lokomotiv has slow flanks and a supporting zone - this is what Zenit will put pressure on.

Lokomotiv: current state

Lokomotiv's return to the Champions League was a failure. No one expected 0:3 from Galatasaray. In terms of the game, everything looked a little better: the Russians had slightly fewer dangerous moments than the Turks. Galatasaray left quite a lot of free spaces in defense, and in the second half of the first half Lokomotiv used them well. And after the break, the hosts changed their minds, and we watched rather dull football from two equal teams.

Compared to what we saw in the match with Dynamo, the progress of the “red-greens” is obvious. But Galatasaray allowed the railwaymen to create so much because of inexperience and a unclear understanding of how to play against them. In the Russian Championship, Yuri Semin saw through everything, therefore, Zenit will play more compactly in defense. Will there be enough ideas in attack against the championship leader? So far it is doubtful.

Two frankly weak points"Lokomotiv" - the support zone and defensive flanks. In both cases, players are often inferior in speed. Krychowiak's absence due to disqualification will certainly have an impact - the Pole worked for two in places. The "railwaymen"'s chance is to let Zenit as close to the goal as possible, and then run into a counterattack. Yes, it's risky. But it was also risky last year, when Lokomotiv took the championship with such tactics. The only difference is that then the opponents were not ready for such actions. And now the “red-greens” are the most predictable team in the championship.

Zenit personnel losses before the match with Lokomotiv

Injuries: Christian Noboa, Yuri Zhirkov, Alexander Kokorin, Emmanuel Mammana.

Personnel losses of Lokomotiv before the match with Zenit

Injury: Alexander Kolomeytsev
Disqualification: Grzegorz Krychowiak

Tentative lineups for the match "Zenit" - "Lokomotiv"

"Zenith": Lunev, Smolnikov, Ivanovich, Neto, Nabiullin, Paredes, Marchisio, Kuzyaev, Erokhin, Driussi, Dzyuba.

"Locomotive": Guilherme, Ignatiev, Kverkvelia, Chorluka, Rybus, Denisov, Barinov, Alexey Miranchuk, Fernandes, Farfan, Smolov.

Personal meetings “Zenit” - “Lokomotiv”

Matches in the Russian part of the history of the confrontation are shown in brackets

Total matches: 111 (49)
Zenit's victories: 39 (15)
Draws: 34 (20)
Lokomotiv's victories: 38 (14)

Last season Lokomotiv won two victories. In the first round, the “railwaymen” defeated the St. Petersburg team on the road - 0:3, and in the second round they won a minimal victory and secured the championship. Interesting fact: The last two times the “railroad workers” won in St. Petersburg were in their “golden” seasons – 2004, 2017/18.

Forecast for the match "Zenit" - "Lokomotiv" from the site

Zenit is the undisputed favorite according to bookmakers. The odds for his victory are 1.67 , for a draw – 3.75 , for the success of Lokomotiv - 5.8 . The editors agree with the message, but disagree with the final odds. As the match against Galatasaray showed, Yuri Semin’s team is not so hopeless. And given that Zenit is stylistically close to the Turks, Lokomotiv will have chances. But there will be very few of them. Now St. Petersburg players play faster, more interesting, and more efficiently. There is a feeling that the owners will not be able to keep the gates locked. But they are capable of scoring two goals.

Forecast fromReadfootball.com – Zenit’s victory with a score of 2:1.