Shatov's attitude, the skill of Kvaratskhelia and Despotovich's goals: why Zenit should be wary of Rubin in an RPL match

Heavy autumn for Zenit

This autumn for Zenit is a real test of strength.

And if in September the team still had the opportunity to rest on the eve of the start in the group stage of the Champions League, then from mid-October to mid-December, Sergei Semak's wards will have to play 15 games in 60 days.

At the same time, the performance for their national teams is not taken into account.

The first European Cup match in this segment ended for the Russian team with an unexpected defeat from Brugge, bled by the coronavirus pandemic (1: 2).

After just three days, the blue-white-blue faces a confrontation with the ambitious Rubin.

Unlike the rival, the Kazan team rested during the week and were quietly recovering after an offensive defeat from Krasnodar.

The Cup trip to Khabarovsk awaits them only in early November.

By the way, the match in the South of Russia ended with a grandiose referee scandal, which can give even more motivation to the charges of Leonid Slutsky.

"Zenith" has nowhere to draw strength.

And in the end of the meeting with Brugge, their team was perceptibly lacking.

It is no coincidence that the blue-white-blue did not manage to carry out the final assault and missed the time added by the referee.

At the same time, next Wednesday, the strongest team in the country will face the most important away game with Borussia Dortmund.

But the economy of forces in front of her is fraught with the loss of leadership in the RPL for Semak's team.

Slutsky, observing how boldly "Brugge" went into high pressure in the first half, may well ask his players about the same, especially in the front line of Kazan gathered mainly young performers.

A special match for Shatov and Azmun 

An additional trump card for the guests on Saturday will be the presence of Oleg Shatov.

The midfielder played for Zenit for seven years, but recently he received more treatment and the club did not renew the contract with him.

And under Semak, the native of Nizhny Tagil mainly performed the role of a reservist.

Surely, an experienced performer at the Gazprom Arena will try to prove that it was too early to write off him.

Moreover, Shatov has already hit the gates of Petersburgers at this stadium.

In April 2018, being rented by Krasnodar, he helped the southerners to win (2: 1).

And leaving to replace, Oleg could not hold back his emotions and burst into tears.

At the same time, Slutsky has a choice of whom to put in the position of an attacking midfielder, since Darko Yevtich, who had served a suspension, returned to service.

But most likely the coach will make a choice in favor of the more experienced and motivated Shatov at a particular moment.

And as part of Zenit, Saturday's match will be special for Serdar Azmun, who in Rubin has grown into a notable footballer by RPL standards.

In total, for Kazan in all tournaments, he spent 77 meetings, in which he scored 17 goals.

At the same time, the Iranian has repeatedly hit the gate of the former team.

In May 2017, he scored a brace for Rostov, and the yellow-blues won 4: 2.

And at the end of last year, an accurate strike from the forward helped Zenit take three points from Kazan (2: 1).

But on Saturday, Rubin's defenders will have to closely monitor not only Azmun, but also Artyom Dzyuba.

Even though a huge load fell on the captain of Zenit and the Russian national team in the fall, he is still capable of giving an assist to a partner at any time or distinguishing himself on his own.

In general, Artyom and Serdar have already scored 12 goals in the current RPL season (six exactly), and this is only four less than the entire Rubin.

But the opponent in the new RPL draw also managed to resolve the issue with the hammering striker, who was sharply facing Slutsky in his first season in Kazan.

Having signed a contract with the club, Djordje Despotovic immediately began to benefit the new team.

He has already four goals and two assists in the national championship.

At the same time, the Serb ranks second in the team in terms of the number of strikes per match (2.7 on average), behind only Denis Makarov (3.5), who is one of the best in the league by this indicator.

And in terms of the number of horse martial arts won (3), only the powerful Oliver Abilgor is ahead of the forward.

On Saturday, Despotovic alone will not be easy to confront experienced Deyan Lovren with Yaroslav Rakitskiy.

However, Zenit's central defenders will have to regularly back up Vyacheslav Karavaev and Douglas on the flanks, which could lead to gaps in Zenit's defense.

Champion's flank vulnerability

Actually, it is due to the active play on the edges of Khvichi Kvaratskhelia against Denis Makarov that Rubin is able to win the match.

The Georgian can be called the main asset of the team at the moment.

The 19-year-old midfielder is fast, technical and has the best dribbling experience of the current RPL season (4.1 attempts per game on average).

In addition, he is able to both independently break through on goal and give a sharp pass to the penalty area.

And if at the start of the season Khviche lacked specifics, then in the last three matches of the Premier League he scored two goals.

Obviously, it will not be easy for Karavaev, who is not so sharp and quick, to contain Kvaratskhelia.

An eloquent example is the removal of Pavel Maslov in the match between Rubin and Spartak.

Then the young defender did not cope with his counterpart and received two yellow cards for fouls on him.

In general, it is not easy for anyone to keep the Georgian one-on-one, so one cannot exclude the appearance on the right flank of the midfield of the capable Daler Kuzyaev, who recently returned to Zenit.

Unlike Sebastian Driussi, he is much more disciplined and involved in a defensive game.

On the left, Douglas will be opposed by the fast and sharp Makarov, who has already scored four goals in the current RPL season.

The main strength of the midfielder is a shot from the left foot.

On average, a Russian makes 3.5 hits per RPL game.

This is the third highest in the league after Nikola Vlašić (4.2) and Wanderson (3.8).

Strong Makarov is also in dribbling, although he is inferior in this component to Kvaratskhelia.

At the same time, if Kuzyaev really is located on the right flank of midfield, then on the left Makarov will often find himself one on one against Douglas, since Driussi often does not have time to help his partners in defense.

And the Brazilian himself loves to join the attacks, so in addition to Rakitskiy, who plays on the left in the center of defense, the defensive players will also have to insure him.

Slutsky's options in the support zone 

Much will also depend on the confrontation in the center of the field.

At Zenit in the support zone, Wilmar Barrios will probably play against Magomed Ozdoev, and at Rubin - Hwang In Böm and Abilgor.

And here the favorite is the played duet from St. Petersburg.

At the RPL level, there is still no equal to the Russian and the Colombian.

So, Barrios is among the best in terms of the number of tackles (2.5) and accurate passes (89.2).

In Rubin, the duties between Khwan and Abilgor are strictly divided.

The Korean is responsible for creating and initiating attacks, while the powerful tall Dane is responsible for the destruction.

However, it will be difficult for him to cope with this task alone.

One could assume that Slutsky, as a precaution, would release two defensive defenders-destroyers on the field, and experienced Dmitry Tarasov would pair Oliver.

But the coach can take such a step only by raising Khvan to the position of Shatov, because Rubin's entire game in the center of the field goes through him.

On average, the Korean makes 2.3 key passes per game (the best result in Rubin) and gives 40 passes with an accuracy of 85.4%, which is a high result for a footballer of his position.

Moreover, in the new season, the Asian midfielder scored six points for performance (2 + 4) with Rubin in all tournaments.