Will Tambov finish the season before the end?

The possible withdrawal of "Tambov" from the championship has become one of the most resonant stories in the current season of the Russian Premier League.

For several months, the club was on the verge of abandoning the continuation of performances, but with joint efforts it was still possible to revive it.

The league paid out ahead of schedule the funds allocated from future mandatory payments, and other representatives of the championship provided the players on loan.

In total, more than 20 athletes joined the team (not counting their own students).

However, it is too early to say that the story with Tambov has come to an end.

A week ago, rumors appeared again about his possible removal from the championship.

However, around the same time, the players began to withdraw their claims against the club.

The financial situation continues to remain unstable, and it is possible that in a few weeks it will worsen again.

A similar development of events is allowed in the RPL, noting that they do not have an unequivocal answer to the question regarding the fate of the "wolves".

Will Gazizov be able to rehabilitate himself for his failure at Spartak?

In winter, the return of Shamil Gazizov to "Ufa" was widely discussed.

At the moment, the former CEO has not yet taken up a position at the club, but "is close to the team, helps and advises."

Of course, it is with his arrival that one can associate the lease from Spartak to his protégé Oston Urunov.

Moreover, the Bashkir team, according to media reports, also has the right of priority redemption of the midfielder, which will cost him € 3 million.

It should be noted that Gazizov decided to return at an extremely important moment.

Ufa is in the penultimate, 15th place in the table and is one point behind the play-off zone.

The ability of a functionary to find inexpensive talented football players is more than ever needed by the club, because the RPL registration is actually at stake.

If Urunov, together with Oleg Ivanov, Moritz Bauer and Parfait Bizoza, who came in this winter, will be able to show themselves well and help the team to save themselves, then Shamil will be rehabilitated for his failure in Spartak and will quickly regain his reputation as one of the most effective managers in the league.

Will Slutsky take a step forward with Rubin

The first year at Rubin turned out to be quite successful for Leonid Slutsky.

The mentor managed to complete the main task and maintain a residence permit in the RPL, and in the current championship he expects to continue moving up.

With 11 rounds left, the team is in ninth place, but only five points behind the European competition zone.

Slutsky himself noted that the current “Rubin” is able to take places from fourth to tenth in the Premier League, and will certainly try to fulfill the maximum program.

But if such prospects seem too optimistic, then the sixth or seventh line is a completely doable task.

Taking into account the fact that the last time Kazan finished the season at the top of the table in 2015, the club will certainly be happy.

As for the specialist himself, then for him it will become a serious help in terms of psychology.

After failures in Halle and Vitesse, he needs to feel confident not only in his abilities, but also in his ability to demonstrate results at a distance.

Will Rostov manage the second half of the season better than the first?

Unlike the team from Tatarstan, which is returning its former positions, "Rostov" over the past years has been among the strongest teams in the country and has been steadily fighting for places in European competitions.

In the course of the last championship, he was considered one of the contenders for medals, but failed the second part of the championship and remained only fifth.

Of course, the coronavirus was largely to blame, but this does not change the general trend.

Under Valeria Karpin, the yellow-blues start successfully, but cannot keep a high pace.

Taking into account recent events, it will be extremely difficult to break the tradition.

During the season, Rostov parted ways with several key performers, and in the winter lost one of the most creative football players - Roman Eremenko terminated the contract and returned to Finland for family reasons.

With this in mind, it is extremely curious how Karpin will rebuild the team's game and whether it will be able to compete on equal terms with the leaders of the RPL.

The current championship has already shown that missing the European competition can be a reason for a sale inside the club.

And it is possible that this could happen again in the future.

Will Promes' arrival solve Spartak's problem in the mid lane?

The transition of Quincy Promes became the loudest and most discussed in the RPL during the winter period of additional applications.

The day before the transfer window closed, Spartak finally reached an agreement with Ajax and secured a return to one of the main creators of the 2017 championship.

However, it is not yet known whether this can be considered an unambiguously successful decision and whether the Dutchman is capable of transforming the team's game.

In recent years, Promes has not been able to confirm his level except in Sevilla, where he was forced to play lateral.

That being said, he remains very productive as a left winger, as evidenced by 22 goals and six assists in 53 games for Ajax.

The only question is whether he will be able to play in his favorite role in Spartak or will be forced to rebuild depending on the requirements of Domenico Tedesco?

The German prefers to operate according to a scheme with three central defenders, in which Ayrton or Victor Moses are fully responsible for the left edge.

As the Spanish experience has shown, in this position Promes is unable to show his best qualities.

Thus, there remains a place under the attackers, which was usually occupied by Zelimkhan Bakaev.

However, he also rarely played on it.

At the same time, it should not be ruled out that Tedesco will decide to change the formation for the sake of the Dutch star.

In the cup match against Dynamo, he has already tried a 4-4-2 formation, and the place of the left midfielder may well be prepared for Quincy.

Will Dynamo continue to progress under Schwartz?

The appointment of Sandro Schwartz to the position of the head coach of Dynamo quickly earned positive reviews not only from the fans, but also from experts.

Under the German specialist, not only the number of points scored per match increased (1.625 instead of 1.55), but also the number of expected goals.

If in nine meetings under the leadership of Kirill Novikov, the xG indicator was 9.48 (ninth in the league), then in eight under the leadership of Schwartz - 13.65 (fourth).

The ex-mentor of Mainz made the team's game more meaningful and attacking, and also managed to liberate the young players.

At the base, 21-year-old Vyacheslav Grulev was closely based, and even younger Konstantin Tyukavin became his replacement.

At the same time, he has already managed to justify the trust of a specialist, effectively scoring with his heel against Spartak's goal in the Cup.

The only question is whether Schwartz will be able to continue to work at such a high level and maintain contact with the charges.

If everything goes well, Dynamo has every chance to firmly settle among the leaders of the RPL this season.

Moreover, there is an opportunity to achieve such a result not due to expensive purchases, but due to the progress of young people.

It is possible that Sandro will be able to discern talent in someone else besides the aforementioned Grulev and Tyukavin. 

Will Krasnodar manage to take second place for the first time in history?

For Murad Musaev's charges, this season did not start very well.

During the first half, the team was in a fever, and after 14 rounds it took tenth place in the table.

However, in the remaining meetings, Krasnodar won four victories and returned to the fight for medals.

And given the problems of a number of rivals, the best chance to overcome the previously impregnable barrier is unlikely to be presented in the foreseeable future.

At the moment, Krasnodar has 30 points in its asset, and the gap from the second place is seven.

At first glance, it seems too big, but opponents will surely provide enough chances to close the gap.

It is difficult to predict how Spartak's results will be affected by the early parting with Tedesco, Rostov and Dynamo are not stable, and Sochi is unlikely to have a sufficient margin of safety to fight for the top three.

As for Lokomotiv, it is on the eighth line and is unlikely to fight for awards.

Will Lokomotiv avoid repeating the anti-record?

Given the current state, the railroad workers are unlikely to be able not to repeat the result of the last championships and take silver, but even compete for medals.

Lokomotiv played the final part of the autumn-winter segment unsuccessfully and suffered five defeats in eight matches, and lost the last two with a total score of 2: 8.

With 11 rounds left, Marko Nikolic's wards occupy the eighth line in the table with 28 points, and, if we take into account the advanced statistics, they are in their place.

In terms of expected points (27.25) and goals (24.93), they go eighth, and in terms of expected conceded goals - tenth (24.35).

It should be noted that there are certain prerequisites for improving the results.

Experienced Pablo was acquired in the center of defense for € 2.5 million (according to Transfermarkt), and midfielder Dmitry Barinov recovered from injury, and even the need to spend energy on European cups disappeared.

But all this can hardly be called a guarantee of success.

Nikolic's candidacy still raises questions from many experts and the best way to remove them is to shock the second part of the championship.

Otherwise, the railroad workers risk not only being left without performances in Europe, but also repeating their worst result in the Russian championship.

In the 2012/13 season, Lokomotiv was only ninth.

And this despite the fact that after 19 rounds he had three points more in his asset than now.

Will CSKA's winter transfer campaign be more successful than the summer one?

Based on the position of the teams in the table, CSKA is the main contender for the silver medals.

Viktor Goncharenko's charges are two points ahead of the closest pursuers from Spartak and only four behind the reigning champions from Zenit.

And all this despite the summer transfer campaign, which many considered a failure.

According to Transfermarkt, the army team spent a total of € 30 million on newcomers, but only the cheapest of them (Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov, € 2 million) was able to show his best side.

Chidera Ejuke is only remembered for his extraordinary speed data, Bruno Fuchs spent 12 minutes on the field, after which he was seriously injured, and Adolfo Gaich was loaned to Benevento in the winter.

In winter, the red and blue were much more careful with their funds, but still they could not do without reinforcement.

A promising midfielder of Norwegian Stabek Emil Bohinen was bought for € 1.5 million, but the main event was the invitation of Salomon Rondon.

The former Zenit forward went to CSKA on loan until the end of the championship.

If the winter acquisitions prove themselves better than the summer ones, then the army team will not only remain favorites in the dispute for silver, but will also be able to compete for gold.

Will the third consecutive championship save Semak from retirement?

Zenit remains the main contender for victory.

At the end of the first part of the season, Sergei Semak's wards clearly demonstrated how confident they are in the national championship when they are deprived of motivation in European competitions.

In this regard, there is every reason to believe that the second segment will be held no less successfully, and the Petersburgers will win the third RPL championship in a row.

It is worth noting that in the 21st century not a single team was able to do this.

The only question is whether this will help Semak maintain his post.

It is no secret that Zenit's management pays great attention to performances in European competitions and, in many respects, this is why they acquire expensive players.

It was for the Champions League that Malcolm and Wendel were bought, and the decision to actually exchange Branislav Ivanovich for Deyan Lovren was dictated by these goals.

The aged Serb could no longer play at high speeds, which had a detrimental effect on the results in the European arena.

However, under the current mentor, Zenit has never managed not only to make it to the Champions League playoffs, but even to rise above the fourth place in the group.

Last season, the campaign ended with a crushing defeat away from Benfica (0: 3), and this year the Petersburgers scored only one point, and lost their chances of reaching the 1/8 finals after the fourth round.

It is not surprising that in the fall there were rumors about the possible resignation of Semak and it is far from the fact that the third victory of the RPL gold will be able to save him from dismissal.