After a wild opening round of fixtures in last week’s curtain raiser that saw an average of over 4 goals per game across the league, there is much anticipation leading into the second round of fixtures with some mouth-watering ties available for the neutral and fans of Russian football.
Amkar Perm vs. FC Ufa
On Friday, Amkar host newly promoted FC Ufa in the opening weekend of the second gameweek. Amkar are coming off the back of a comprehensive defeat away at Terek last weekend and will no doubt be seeking to bounce back from their 4-0 drubbing. Ufa, on the other hand, go into the match after suffering a defeat away at Kuban, but showed moments during the match that displayed their capabilities of remaining in the top flight of Russian football.
Amkar potential XI: Narubin, Zanev, Nikitin, Sirakov, Phibel, Gol, Peev, Ogude, Solomatin, Georgiev, Kolomeitsev.
FC Ufa potential XI: Veremko, Alikin, Stepanets, Forbes, Tishkin, Zaseev, Paurevic, Diego, Marcinho, Galiulin, Golubov.
Kuban Krasnodar vs. FC Rostov
A hurting FC Rostov travel to Krasnodar this weekend to take on Kuban who are coming off the back of a 2-0 victory over FC Ufa last week. When you compare that to Rostov’s start, it was Miodrag Božović’s men that were humiliated by confident Dinamo last weekend when they were beaten 7-3 away from home. Kuban’s attacking threat may be a worry for Božović whose defensive frailties were shown on numerous occasions last weekend.
Kuban potential XI: Belenov, Xandao, Sunjic, Zhavnerchik, Eshchenko, Kulik, Khubulov, Rabiu, Ignatiev, Popov, Cirino.
FC Rostov potential XI: Pletikosa, Abazov, Dyakov, Bastos, Milic, Gatcan, Fatullaev, Torbinski, Kalachev, Poloz, Bukharov.
Mordovia Saransk vs. CSKA Moscow
The only newly promoted side to obtain a victory last weekend was Yeri Semin’s Mordovia team after they picked up at 3-2 victory away at Ural on the opening weekend. Mordovia’s task of overcoming defending champions CSKA will one of the club’s greatest tests this season, but the home crowd could be used as an advantage. This is Mordovia’s first match of the season at Start stadium, with kick-off at lunch time on Saturday. CSKA are no doubt full of confidence after winning the first Moscow derby of the new season by defeating Torpedo Moscow 4-1 last weekend.
Mordovia potential XI: Kochenkov, Shitov, Nakhushev, Vasin, Perendija, Danilo, Vlasov, Donald, Lutsenko, Ebecilio, Le Tallec.
CSKA potential XI: Akinfeev, Fernandes, Ignashevich, V. Berezutskiy, Nababkin, Wernbloom, Milanov, Musa, Panchenko, Tosic, Doumbia.
Terek Grozny vs. Rubin Kazan
Despite a disappointing campaign last year, there’s arguably no side in the Russian Premier League more full of confidence than Chechen club Terek Grozny. A solid 4-0 win over Amkar on Monday’s final game of the first weekend of football saw Terek start the season full of optimism and hope. Rubin Kazan, on the other hand, are a club in turmoil and with players and fans expecting no more than an average season at best, surviving relegation will be seen a success. A 4-0 defeat to title contenders Spartak Moscow may prove to be a turning point for the club who sold Yann M’Vila to Inter Milan.
Terek potential XI: Godzyur, Kudryashov, Semenov, Komorowski, Utsiev, Warken, Ferreira, Ivanov, Rybus, Lebedenko, Almeida.
Rubin potential XI: Filtsov, Kuzmin, Kverkvelia, Burlak, Nabiullin, Kislyak, Mogilevec, Karadeniz, Dyadyun, Ozdoev, Azmoun.
Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Torpedo Moscow
Andre Villas-Boas brings his Zenit side home for the first time this season to take on newly promoted Torpedo Moscow who suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat to city rivals, CSKA Moscow. Despite taking the lead against the defending champions, Torpedo were never really in the game against CSKA after the home side equalized shortly before half time. Zenit, on the other hand, go into the new season full of optimism and will see nothing other than a win satisfactory as they aim to claim the Premier League title at the end of the season.
Zenit potential XI: Lodygin, Smolnikov, Neto, Garay, Criscito, Witsel, Fayzulin, Shatov, Danny, Hulk, Rondon.
Torpedo potential XI: Zhevnov, Tesak, Aidov, Rykov, Katsalapov, Steklov, Kuleshov, Fomin, Pugin, Shevchenko, Davydov.
Dynamo Moscow vs. Spartak Moscow
For me, the most enjoyable point of this Premier League season is that we are guaranteed a Moscow derby almost weekly, and there’s no denying they’re passionate and sometimes ill-tempered contests. Dynamo recorded a history 7-3 victory over FC Rostov last weekend making them the first side to win a game involving ten goals in fifteen years. Some pleasant football and striking class showed that Dynamo may have what it takes to win the title come next May, but many people are skeptical about their chances due to their defensive problems. However, Spartak will have their own title ambitions and also started the season in winning fashion by defeat Rubin Kazan 4-0 away from home. A thrilling contest lays in store, and one that is likely to bring us goals.
Dynamo potential XI: Gabulov, Kozlov, Samba, Büttner, Granat, Dzsudzsák, Ionov, Denisov, Vainqueur, Kokorin, Kuranyi.
Spartak potential XI: Rebrov, D. Kombarov, Insaurralde, Joao Carlos, Makeev, Parshivlyuk, Glushakov, Costa, Källström, Jano, Dzyuba.
Ural Ekaterinburg vs. FC Krasnodar
Ural are coming off the back of a rather embarrassing home defeat to newly promoted Mordovia where the home side were defeated 3-2 at home. Ural are definitely lacking leadership at the back, and their limitations showed throughout last weekend’s match. On the other hand, Krasnodar more than showed their potential to survive this year as last weekend’s impressive 0-0 draw with Lokomotiv Moscow proved to many people that Krasnodar were not just here to make up the numbers this season and showed this on numerous occasions during their match. An interesting tie this one, with both teams eager not to lose.
Ural potential XI: Zabolotny, Dantsev, Ottesen, Khozin, Berger, Yaroshenko, Erokhin, Acevedo, Manucharyan, Gogniev, Lungu.
FC Krasnodar potential XI: Dikan, Granqvist, Sigurdsson, Kaleshin, Jedrzejczyk, Bystrov, Pomerko, Joaozinho, Pereyra, Gazinsky, Wanderson.
Arsenal Tula vs. Lokomotiv Moscow
Tula go into their game with Lokomotiv after suffering a hammering at the hands of Zenit St. Petersburg last weekend. With many players desperate to impress coach Dmitri Alenichev after an embarrassing defeat, this tie is nicely set up as Lokomotiv themselves are chasing their first goal and first victory of the new campaign after being held 0-0 at home to FC Krasnodar in the opening game of the season.
Arsenal potential XI: Filimonov, Ershov, Kaleshin, Osipov, Lyakh, Vasilyev, Kascelan, Lepskiy, Ryzhkov, Maloyan, Bazanov.
Lokomotiv potential XI: Guilherme, Pejcinovic, Durica, Denisov, Shishkin, Yanbaev, Fernandes, Tarasov, Tkachev, Maicon, N’Doye.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Follow Shane Burns on Twitter: @FNN_Official
Leave a Reply