Preview: Russian Premier League. Matchday 22

The summer’s final round will send the Russian Premier League teams on vacation. Still, many of the players won’t be able to relax: some will be called up to national teams, some will be anxiously waiting for the last week of the transfer window to close without them losing their job in favor of a new signing.

The weekend kicks off in Tomsk, where the local Tom is on the verge of bankruptcy and the game against Amkar may become their last one in the top division. Two river-named teams, Volga and Terek, will play on the same day; Kuban and Lokomotiv will define who is the worst of the best in the top-8; Dynamo will take one more trip to Caucasus – last week it was Makhachkala, now it’s Nalchik. Meanwhile, Spartak Moscow will meet leaders CSKA in the top match of the week and Russia’s most heated derby at the same time.

Match of the day

Spartak Moscow – CSKA Moscow. It’s been a long time since voices calling for Valery Karpin’s dismissal were heard, but the unexpected dressing-down given to Spartak by the crumbly Legia Warsaw brought these talks back once again. The daredevilry in midfield turned out to be disorganization, lack of order in defense was laid bar, and it became obvious once again why the Red-and-Whites are among the most goal-conceding teams in the top-8.

The Army Club, on the contrary, are the most goal-scoring ones and the meeting between Spartak’s feeble defense and CSKA’s strong attack may bring a lot of goals, especially as the latter limbered up with Tom last week. CSKA have also lost the spring derby and Leonid Slutsky now talks about revenge.

Worth taking a look

Zenit St. Petersburg – FC Krasnodar. The St. Petersburg met no resistance at Krylia Sovetov last week and, in addition to that, received a new portion of positive emotions from the Champions League draw: their group turned out to be not so deadly as it could be. Now their last obstacle before the break is the rapidly losing momentum, grip, and chances for the top half FC Krasnodar. In case CSKA lose points in Luzhniki, the reigning champion may well dethrone them from the top spot.

Europa League

Following the results of the qualifying campaign, Spartak were eliminated from the European cups, Rubin went down into the less prestigious tournament, while Lokomotiv managed to qualify.

The Railwaymen seemed to be so desperate to concede at least once under their new coach Jose Couceiro that they resorted an own goal against Spartak Trnava, which, however, did not prevent them from a smooth qualification. The next step will be the raging Kuban with three wins behind them in August and an unexpected defeat of Volga last week, when bookmakers expected them to lose the match that they had thought to be fixed.

Rubin’s dismal marathon ends at home against Krylia Sovetov. The Kazan-based team are experiencing a protracted staffing nightmare, but still manage to hold on in the table and have put up a decent resistance to O. Lyon. Their next opponents stopped drowning further with the advent of Andrey Kobelev as head coach, but are still unable to swim out to the surface. Maybe their new signing Sergey Kornilenko (ex-Tom, Zenit, and Blackpool) will help.

Bet of the day

Dynamo’s leader Andriy Voronin was so put out about his team’s defeat in Makhachkala, that betting on the highly motivated Ukrainian to score against Spartak Nalchik is worth taking a risk. If you prefer going for something more simple – take Dynamo’s victory with handicap (-1.5) at 1.95.

Quote

«I will only take back my resignation, if the club’s financial situation becomes stable. However, it’s not the first most important thing, but rather the second one. The main thing is that we have to win. Every coach must be responsible for the result. However elegant, beautiful, and pleasant he is, the coach needs results. Players also understand that, after all» – Tom head coach Valery Nepomnyashchy definitely seems to expect some changes.

Beautiful figure

According to different sources, Samuel Eto’o will earn from €10 to €20.5 million at Anzhi, which makes him one of the highest paid footballer players in the world – or even the highest. The figure looks beautiful in any case.

Tom Tomsk – Amkar Perm

August 27. Trud Stadium (Tomsk), 15.30 MSK.

Referee: Alexey Yeskov (Moscow).

Injuries: Tigorev, Balyaykin, Dananae / none.

Suspensions: Sosnovsky / Novakovic.

Tom (Sports.ru version): Botvinyev – Khatazhenkov, Jokic, D. Smirnov, Nakhushev – Kharitonov, Sabitov, Gultyaev, Boyarintsev – Golyshev, Bazhenov.

Amkar (Sports.ru version): Narubin – Sirakov, Cherenchikov, Popov, Grishin – Peev, Mijajlovic, Kolomeitsev, Sekretov – Mikhalyov, Volkov.

Last matches: + – – – – / – = – = =

First round match: 2-1.

Odds by Marathon Betting: Tom – 2.9, draw – 4.5, Amkar – 1.8.

Broadcast: NTV Plus Nash Football, 15.10 (live), Yelagin.

Volga Nizhny Novgorod – Terek Grozny

August 27. Lokomotiv Stadium (Nizhny Novgorod), 17.45 MSK.

Referee: Alexey Nikolayev (Moscow).

Injuries: Yashin / Utsiev.

Suspensions: none.

Volga (Sports.ru version): Astakhov – Bondarv, Buyvolov, Belozyorov, Getigezhev – Yeshchenko, Plesan, Arziani, Javadov, Szekely – Vatsadze.

Terek (Sports.ru version): Dzhanayev – Omelyanchuk, Ferreira, Jiranek, Yatchenko – Pavlenko, Katsayev, Mauricio, Georgiev – Asildarov, Ewerthon.

Last matches: – – – = – / – + – – =

First round match: 0-1.

Odds by Marathon Betting: Volga – 1.55, draw – 4, Terek – 4.4.

Broadcast: NTV Plus Nash Football, 17.30 (live), Pirozhkov.

Rostov Rostov-on-Don – Anzhi Makhachkala

August 27. Olimp-2 Stadium (Rostov-on-Don), 20.00 MSK.

Referee: Igor Yegorov (Nizhniy Novgorod).

Injuries: Radic, Yankov / Lakhiyalov.

Suspensions: Bracamonte, Ivanov / none.

Rostov (Sports.ru version): Pletikosa – Khagush, Okoronkwo, Salata, Kruglov – Grigoriev, Proshin, Cocis, Kalachyov, Cesnauskis – Adamov.

Anzhi (Sports.ru version): Revishvili – Angbwa, Tagirbekov, Gadzhibekov, Joao Carlos – Boussoufa, Ahmedov, Roberto Carlos, Dzsudzsak, Zhirkov – Prudnikov.

Last matches: – – + – = / – + + – +

First round match: 0-1.

Odds by Marathon Betting: Rostov – 5, draw – 3.6, Anzhi – 1.8.

Broadcast: NTV Plus Nash Football, 19.40 (live), Andronov. Russia 2 19.55 (live).

Dynamo Moscow – Spartak Nalchik

August 28. Arena Khimki (Khimki), 16.30 MSK.

Referee: Vitaly Meshkov (Dmitrov).

Injuries: none / Jovanovic, Berkhamov.

Suspensions: Lomic, Granat / none.

Dynamo (Sports.ru version): Shunin – Wilkshire, L. Fernandez, Shitov, Epureanu – Samedov, Sapeta, Semshov, Kokorin – Voronin, Kuranyi.

Spartak Nalchik (Sports.ru version): Fredrikson – Aravin, Djudovic, Ovsienko, Bagayev – Rukhaia, Kontsedalov, Gridnev, Pilipchuk – Goshokov, Siradze.

Last matches: + + – + – / = – – + =

First round match: 3-2.

Odds by Marathon Betting: Dynamo – 1.25, draw – 5.7, Spartak N – 12.

Broadcast: NTV Plus Nash Football, HD Sports, 16.10 (live), Dud, Baturin.

Zenit St. Petersburg – FC Krasnodar

August 28. Petrovsky Stadium (St. Petersburg), 16.45 MSK.

Referee: Vyacheslav Popov (Yekaterinburg).

Injuries: Semak, Bystrov / none.

Suspensions: none / Amisulashvili.

Zenit (Sports.ru version): Malafeev – Anyukov, Lombaerts, Hubocan, Criscito – Denisov, Shirokov, Faizulin – Danny, Lazovic, Kerzhakov.

Krasnodar (Sports.ru version): Gorodov – Markov, Martynovich, Tubic, Andjelkovic – Tatarchuk, Drincic, Yerokhin, Marcio, Joaozinho – Movsisyan.

Last matches: + + + = + / = + – -

First round match: 0-0.

Odds by Marathon Betting: Zenit – 1.2, draw – 6.5, Krasnodar – 14.

Broadcast: NTV-Plus Sport-Plus, 16.30 (live), Kazansky, Orlov.

Rubin Kazan – Krylia Sovetov Samara

August 28. Tsentralny Stadium (Kazan), 18.45 CET.

Referee: Sergey Lapochkin (St. Petersburg).

Injuries: Carlos Eduardo, Ryazantsev, Orekhov, Kuzmin, C. Navas, Ansaldi / none.

Suspensions: Bocchetti / Yakovlev.

Ruby (Sports.ru version): Ryzhikov – Nemov, Kverkveliya, Sharonov, Kaleshin – Karadeniz, Noboa, Natcho, Kasayev – Obafemi, Medvedev.

Krylia Sovetov (Sports.ru version): Veremko – Djordjevic, Ponomarenko, Taranov, Tsallagov – Bobyor, Vorobyov, Petrov, Koroman – Pecnik, Kornilenko.

Last matches: + – + = / – = + -

First round match: 2-2.

Odds by Marathon Betting: Rubin – 1.23, draw – 5.9, Krylia Sovetov – 13.

Broadcast: NTV Plus Nash Football, 18.30 (live), Shmelkov.

Spartak Moscow – CSKA Moscow

August 28. Luzhniki Stadium (Moscow), 19.00 MSK.

Referee: Sergey Karasyov (Moscow).

Injuries: Shchennikov, Vasin, Necid / none.

Suspensions: none.

Spartak (Sports.ru version).: Dikan – Parshivlyuk, Pareja, Suchy, Makeev – Ari, Sheshukov, de Zeeuw, D. Kombarov – Dzyuba, Welliton.

CSKA (Sports.ru version): Akinfeyev – Nababkin, V. Berezutsky, Ignashevich, A. Berezutsky – Honda, Aldonin, Mamayev, Dzagoev – Vagner Love, Doumbia.

Last matches: + = + + = / + = – = +

First round match: 1-0.

Odds by Marathon Betting: Spartak – 3.4, draw – 3.4, CSKA – 2.12.

Broadcast: NTV-Plus Sport-Plus, HD Sports, 18:45 (live), Dementiev, Rozanov. Russia 2 10.18 (live).

Kuban Krasnodar – Lokomotiv Moscow

August 28. Kuban Stadium (Krasnodar), 21.00 MSK.

Referee: Stanislav Sukhina (Malakhovka).

Injuries: none / Amelchenko.

Suspensions: none / Yanbaev.

Kuban (Sports.ru version): Belenov – Kozlov, Rogochy, Armas, Zhavnerchik – Varga, Ne, Tlisov, Komkov – Traore, Bucur.

Lokomotiv (Sports.ru version): Guilherme – Shishkin, da Costa, Durica, Ilic – Obinna, Glushakov, Loskov, Ignatiev – Caicedo, Sychev.

Last matches: – = + + + / + + = +

First round match: 1:2.

Odds by Marathon Betting: Kuban – 2.8, draw – 3.1, Lokomotiv – 2.64.

Broadcast: NTV Plus Nash Football, 20.45 (live), Utkin.