Zenit St Petersburg Poised to Start with a Win

The opening round of the new Russian Premier League season continues on Saturday night, with defending champions Zenit St Petersburg away to modest side Akron Tolyatti. From the last five meetings between the teams, Zenit hold the edge with three wins, one draw and one defeat. Their recent form has also been better than Akron Tolyatti's, so Zenit are well placed to return home with all three points.

Akron Tolyatti finished 13th in the Russian Premier League last season and had to fight for survival through the relegation play-offs. They eventually stayed up by beating Rotor Volgograd 2-1 on aggregate across two legs. In terms of summer preparation, Akron Tolyatti posted two wins, one draw and three defeats from six 90-minute friendlies. They failed to score in half of those matches, while conceding in every game. Given that they allowed 1.77 goals per match on average in the league last season, there has been little sign of improvement at the back. Facing a high-powered Zenit attack here, Akron Tolyatti look likely to open the campaign with a defeat.

Zenit, by contrast, lifted the Russian Premier League title with 68 points last season, edging out Krasnodar. They were especially impressive in the run-in, going unbeaten over the final 10 rounds with eight wins and two draws, showing strong composure under pressure. In their first official match of the new season, the Russian Super Cup, Zenit again displayed resilience. Although they fell behind early, they equalised late through Sobolev and then won the penalty shootout 4-2 to claim their first trophy of the new campaign. They also recorded four wins and two draws from six pre-season friendlies, underlining how well prepared they are. On this trip, Zenit should have little trouble taking victory.