Zenit St Petersburg v Spartak Nalchik
Football: Russian Premier League 2009/2010
Sunday, 25th October 2009. Kickoff 11:30

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Zenit (3rd) Home : 8-3-1 18:7

Zenit is the shadow favorite for the title. They are scheduled to meet both, Spartak (H) and Rubin (A), in the closing rounds of the season. Alexandr Anyukov is back after the flu, while Fernando Meira and Danny are still injured.

Oleg Davydov changed the usual 4-4-2 formation to a 4-3-3 scheme when Zenit faced Kuban in Krasnodar. Semshov, Ziryanov and Denisov formed the midfield line, while Bystrov and Rosina supported lone striker Tekke from the wings.

It was a tactically perfect decision as pacy wingers continually found the empty zones in Kuban’s defense. Bystrov got his name on the scoresheet for the 5th consecutive match since joining from Spartak Moscow. Alessandro Rosina opened the score with his close tap in.

Zenit was in full control of the match, supported by a massive number of traveling supporters. Mateja Kezman was left at the bench despite a seemingly productive couple of opening games for St. Petersburg.

Zenit has a 6 match winning streak and a very favorable schedule. Some specialists consider that the team should not lose any points up until the last round home match against Spartak Moscow. Confidence is sky-high in Zenit’s camp and they really do look unstoppable at the moment.

Davydov may choose to maintain the same 4-3-3 formation which worked fine in Krasnodar, on the other hand – having Spartak will play a very defensive game, keeping a lot of men back, so 2 strikers would not hurt. Bystrov and Rosina can simply be out of space to run into.

Spartak Nalchik (14th) Away : 2-4-7 8:14

Spartak Nalchik moved closer to the season objective of avoiding relegation after they drew CSKA at home 1-1. Guests were not intimidated by an early goal scored by Milos Krasic on the 4th minute.

Spartak confidently pushed forward creating a couple of nice opportunities and eventually got the equalizer after central defender Amisulashvilli converted a neatly taken set piece situation. Krasnozhan’s hand was seen further as the game progressed.

Spartak players played a tactically perfect match, but the referee simply stole the victory from them after ignoring an obvious penalty situation inside CSKA’s penalty area.

Away games have not been going Spartak’s way this season, but considering the superb form they are enjoying at the moment – chances are still their for the taking.

The lead over main relegation rivals Kuban has been increased to 2 points, so this cushion allows Spartak to lose. Hence they should go into the match quite relaxed.

The all decisive head to head meeting vs. Kuban will be played in Nalchik in the next round. This factor can also be on the back of Krasnozhan’s mind. But I doubt he shall rotate the line up. Rather not push for the positive result in case Zenit takes the lead.

Betting advice

A very tought match in prospect for Zenit. Spartak’s defense will be hard to break down and an under goal line is quite possible here.

It's been a long time since Spartak was outplayed by anyone in the league, maybe it is high time for Zenit to remind visitors just where they come from.

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take Zenit (-1.50) @ 2.15 with Bet365, or @ 2.20 with Ladbrokes.