The meeting of the Bakaev brothers, the duel between Slutsky and Tedesco and the injury of Kvaratskhelia: what is interesting about the RPL Rubin - Spartak match

Serious losses of Rubin and Spartak's attitude after defeat in the derby

The match between Rubin and Spartak in Kazan will become the centerpiece of the RPL round 8 program.

And its importance for both teams can hardly be overestimated.

For both Muscovites and Kazan citizens, a victory in this meeting will raise the standings. 

Red and white after the defeat in the capital derby from CSKA, which deprived them of their leadership in the Premier League, will certainly be especially motivated.

Moreover, Domenico Tedesco's charges have a chance to catch up with Zenit, which is on the first place, which unexpectedly broke up with Ural on Saturday.  

Potential failure can not only alienate Spartak from the first place, but also allow the pursuers to catch up and even bypass the capital's team.

In this group of teams is also "Ruby", which is exactly three points behind the red and white.

Kazan did not start the season very well, gaining only one point in the first three rounds, but took ten in the next four. 

Success at home will allow Leonid Slutsky's team to join the fight for a place in the European Cup zone.

Defeat, on the contrary, can lower the Kazan team to the second half of the table, given the high density.   

On the eve of the in-person meeting, the teams played the Russian Cup matches on Wednesday.

And although both met with rivals from the PFL, both Slutskiy and Tedesco put on the line-ups close to optimal.

But if Spartak defeated Rodina at home in an energy-saving mode (5: 1), then Rubin had a difficult meeting in Novorossiysk with Chornomorets (4: 2).

In addition, the citizens of Kazan are approaching an important RPL game without three key players at once.

Firstly, the main league dribbler Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will not enter the field.

On average, he makes 4.9 dribbles per match in the current Premier League season and takes first place in this indicator.

The Georgian's incredible technique has already helped Kazan to earn two penalties.

He also chalked up one assist.  

Rookie Hwang In Byeom, who immediately became the team's key player, will also miss the game.

In five matches in all tournaments, the Korean scored five points for performance (2 + 3), and his ball against Chornomorets became a real decoration of the tournament.

In the person of the Asian, Slutsky received a strong dispatcher, which the team lacked so much.

On average, Hwang makes 2.8 key passes per match in the RPL.

This is the third highest in the league after Joaozinho and Wanderson.

He also performs 85% of the passes exactly, which is a high result for a footballer of his position.

But the removal of the previous round against Dynamo will prevent Khvan from playing against Spartak.  

Yury Dyupin will not enter the field "first number" of the team.

But the main central defender of “Rubin”, as well as the captain of Kazan citizens, Philip Uremovich, has already recovered from his injury and, possibly, will play with “Spartak”.

At the same time, in the absence of leaders, Denis Makarov may well lead the partners.

A year ago, the right midfielder played in the FNL, but Rubin was not afraid to acquire a talented young football player and did not lose.

Makarov began to benefit the new team from the first matches.

Denis scored eight goals in 17 meetings with Kazan in all tournaments.  

The main strong quality of the 22-year-old performer is punch.

On average, for a game in the RPL, Makarov hits someone else's goal four times.

This is the best indicator of the tournament along with Nikola Vlasic.

Denis also has good speed and technique and is able to create serious problems for Ayrton, who is fond of connecting to attacks.

And a successful game in the match against Spartak is able to attract Stanislav Cherchesov's attention to him, despite the fact that Makarov has never been called up even to the youth teams. 

Statistics in favor of the red and white and an important day for Kokorin

However, in general, the red and white on Sunday will have a much longer bench.

Tedesco approaches an important fight with only one loss.

Maxim Glushenkov received a serious knee injury.

However, after returning from lease, the young footballer was mostly content with substitutions.

The coaching staff has a particularly high-quality choice in the offensive line, because Ezequiel Ponce, Jordan Larsson, Alexander Sobolev and Alexander Kokorin are capable of playing at the forefront of the attack.

It will not be easy for the latter to break into the base of Spartak, because his competitors regularly score points for performance and score goals.

Himself 29-year-old striker in the first two matches for the red and white was content with only an assist in the confrontation with the modest Rodina.

Thus, in the game with Rubin, Kokorin will have additional motivation to open an account with goals in the new team.

Otherwise, he risks remaining in reserve for a long time.  

In addition to personnel advantages, the statistics of head-to-head matches with Rubin speaks in favor of Spartak.

Red and white for Kazan is an extremely uncomfortable opponent.

The last time they beat the capital's team was almost six years ago - in October 2014 as part of the Russian Cup.

And six months before that, in April, Rubin beat Spartak in the Premier League for the last time (2: 1).

The special attitude of Slutsky and the opposition of the Bakayevs

However, at the start of the current national championship, Rubin quite successfully opposes the capital's teams.

By the ninth round, Kazan will play against all Moscow teams.

And while the Slutsk home team lost to Lokomotiv (0: 2), CSKA and Dynamo beat them, and on the road.

For the coach himself, this game will be special, because he headed CSKA for seven years and became the champion of Russia three times with the army team.

Matches against Spartak, as a rule, went well for the specialist teams.

In 26 meetings, they won 14 wins with six draws and six defeats. 

Moreover, the career of a specialist in the Russian championship began with a victory over Spartak.

In July 2005, under the guidance of the coach, “Moscow” turned out to be stronger than the rival - 3: 1.

True, the first meeting with "Spartak" at the head of "Rubin" turned out to be unsuccessful for him.

In the last round of last season, Kazan suffered a home defeat - 1: 2.

Two months later, they will try to take revenge.  

The opposition of the Bakaev brothers will give additional intrigue to the match.

Soltmurad, like Zelimkhan, is a graduate of Spartak, but at the beginning of 2020 he moved to Rubin because he did not get enough playing practice in the first team of red and white.

Probably, on Sunday he will replace Kvaratskhelia on the left flank and will try to upset a relative.

The first part of their "duel" ended with the victory of Zelimkhan, who helped Spartak score three points by converting a penalty kick.