Revenge for the Super Bowl, the return of Miranchuk and various opportunities for rotation: what makes the Lokomotiv - Zenit match interesting

Railroad Injury Epidemic and Semak's Wide Bench

The confrontation between Lokomotiv and Zenit in the framework of the 11th round of the RPL is of particular interest to football fans, because in Cherkizovo one of the country's strongest teams will compete. Petersburgers finished last season in first place, and Muscovites in second. Both teams directly got into the group stage of the Champions League, and the railway workers also won the Russian Cup.

As a result, in early July, the rivals met in the match for the country's Super Bowl, and this meeting ended with a strong-willed victory of Lokomotiv. During the match, Yuri Syomin’s wards lost 1–2 after Serdar Azmun's double, but the fate of the confrontation was decided by two goals of Alexei Miranchuk in the end of the second half.

However, compared to that game, the vice champion will have a lot more difficulty. Firstly, the red-green lost both of the Miranchuk brothers (although it is likely that Aleksey will still have time to recover for the match against Zenit). The possible participation of the player in the game in an interview with reporters was confirmed by Semin.

“Alexei has a chance to enter the field in a game with Zenit. We’ll make a decision on the eve of the meeting, after the injury he’s almost recovered, ”the“ Championship ”mentor quotes.

It will be especially curious to see Alexei on the field also because at the end of August Zenit was objectively interested in him. Clubs did not hide the fact of negotiations, but Miranchuk remained in his current team. However, it is possible that in the near future the transfer will nevertheless take place.

In the meantime, Alexei will try once again to upset St. Petersburg. It is interesting that, despite his youth, with four goals he is the best scorer of the confrontation (along with Dmitry Loskov, who is now helping Semin in the coaching staff).

The injuries of the Miranchuk brothers added a headache to an experienced specialist. He already did not have too many opportunities for rotation in the middle of the field and in the attack line, and now they are completely gone. Well, the railroad workers also managed to rent João Mariou from Inter. The European champion quickly joined the team and in four matches gave three assists. Probably, in Cherkizovo it will again be located precisely on the left flank of the attack, and not in the center.

At the same time, Lokomotiv is forced to perform as tightly as possible, which Semin has already complained about. At the same time, Zenit is in a similar situation. Petrograd also have to break into three fronts. But Semak has much more opportunities for rotation. For example, in the match of the last round with Rubin, the coach left Yordan Osorio, Vyacheslav Karavaev, Yuri Zhirkov, Robert Mack and Alexey Sutormin in reserve, which did not prevent the team from defeating the opponent.

However, Yuri Semin went even further. He did not take almost all the leaders to the cup match in Kaliningrad, and they too should have time to approach the championship game in good shape.

Semin’s bet on defense and the possible absence of Azmun

As for the possible course of the match, it is hard to expect a bright attacking game from the players on Saturday. In the first place in such an important meeting will be the result. Therefore, the game can go all the way to the first goal scored, as it was in April, when the teams split the world - 1: 1.

However, the defeat can greatly spoil the tournament situation for both teams. Loko, in case of failure, will be six points behind Zenit, letting direct competitors go ahead, which at such a density of the table is fraught with serious problems. “Zenith”, with the development of events negative for itself, risks losing the leadership that was given to the team is very difficult.

However, so far the real problems of the St. Petersburg people arose only after the injury of Sebastian Driussi. Without the Argentine on the flank of the attack, the wards of Semak scored only one goal in three RPL games and lost ahead in the awnings and casts in the direction of Artyom Dziuba. With the return of Sebastian, the game “Zenith” was adjusted, and the team again began to consistently score. True, there is a small chance that the Argentine will not enter the field in Moscow due to a head injury sustained in the 10th round, but most likely it will not prevent the player from playing.

But the chances of Azmun to take part in the match are much lower. The Iranian was injured in the game with Lyon and, according to rumors, has not yet fully recovered. However, Petersburgers coped with Rubin without it. In the absence of the Iranian, Dziuba played the spearhead alone, while in the center of the field and on the flanks he was assisted by Driussi, Oleg Shatov, Magomed Ozdoev and Daler Kuzyaev. As a result, blue-white-blue scored five goals.

However, one should not expect an adventurous game from Lokomotiv. It is possible that on Saturday the railroad workers will not go on the rampage, but will act on defense, especially since their staffing capabilities are very limited. In this case, it is curious whether Semin will repeat the triggered move with an exit in the base zone of Murilo. In Leverkusen, the Brazilian coped with his duties brilliantly, and the opponent almost lost the opportunity to attack through the center.

However, the “Zenith”, in contrast to the “Bayer” is strong and the flank game, and Semin will puzzle over how to neutralize the Dryussi on the right flank of defense. Just in this zone, the team has certain difficulties, since Dmitry Zhivoglyadov does not look like a model of reliability, and Rifat Zhemaletdinov does not always work out actively in defense.

In this regard, again, Murilo may enter the field, but in the center of defense, as was the case in Krasnodar. Then the railway workers managed to achieve a draw not only due to quality, but also due to the number of defenders.

But Semak has a lot of options on whom to bet in the midfield, because the coach can let Daler Kuzyaev and Alexander Erokhin recover from injuries and catch Shatov and scored in two matches Robert Mack and Alexey Sutormin. The starting line-up of Loko is easy to guess almost completely, because, as already mentioned, Semin has practically no options for rotation.