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Zenit St Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow prediction
Zenit St Petersburg
Zenit held their pre-season training at the Udelnaya base in St. Petersburg, punctuated by a series of friendly matches against various opponents. As part of the Winline series, the reigning Russian champions defeated Neftchi Fergana 4-1 and Serbia's Red Star Belgrade 3-1 but were held to a 1-1 draw by Argentina's Gimnasia de La Plata. On their home training grounds, they notched up a 2-0 victory and a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Makhachkala, along with a 4-0 win over Leningradets.
Though the team found the back of the net in every game, these were merely friendlies. The upcoming clash with Spartak in Nizhny Novgorod for the Super Cup represents a much more formidable challenge for Semak's squad.
The summer saw the signing of versatile attacking talent Filipe Augusto, who's yet to play a full 90 minutes. In addition, a one-year extension was granted to 'super-sub' Erokhin, who was instrumental in securing Zenit's championship with his performance against Sochi (2-1). Zenit will miss Douglas Santos and Luis Enrique for the upcoming match against the red-and-whites as they're taking a break post-World Cup, which slightly weakens the squad, especially the loss of the former.
Spartak Moscow
Spartak remained silent throughout the off-season but suddenly announced the acquisition of left-back Viktor Parada from Alaves at the start of the season. Their former player Ryabchuk fell short of expectations in this position and left the team, as did Bongonda. Now a young and robust player is set to replace him. However, as Parada has only been with the team for a few days, Dmitriev, the versatile player, might step in for Zenit on the left.
Srđan Babić is back in action after a long layoff due to an ACL tear. However, during this pre-season, Wu and Litvinov were the preferred candidates for center-back roles as Djiku nursed an injury. Expect them to make the lineup against Zenit.
In the forward line, Carcedo, the Russian Cup holders' manager, has favored Livaia over Ugaldé throughout this preseason. The results have been mixed, leaving behind a track of 3-2 against Krylia Sovetov, 1-0 versus Kostroma's Spartak, 0-2 loss to Lokomotiv, and a 0-0 draw with Rubin. 'Our team will write its history,' was Carcedo's rallying cry ahead of the Russian Super Cup. Let's watch if Moscow can end its near 10-year Super Cup drought since Carreras' tenure.
Prediction
Titles take precedent over spectacle. This statement perfectly captures the spirit of recent clashes between the Petersburgers and Muscovites. Last season, neither side managed to score more than three goals in any of their encounters.
The Derby of the Two Capitals is heavily tactical, stirring emotions but focusing on pragmatism rather than spectacle. Given the stakes of starting the season with a title win, I anticipate a cautious approach, a pattern both teams have demonstrated historically when facing each other.
In their last eight meetings leading up to the showdown at the Sovcombank Arena in Nizhny, five matches ended with under 2.5 goals. As I initially highlighted, "titles are more important than beauty," hence I'm predicting a gritty match with few, if any, goals. The pursuit of a title will overshadow the quest for entertainment, in my view.
Spartak's attack, based on performances against other RPL top-eight teams (0-2 loss to Lokomotiv and a 0-0 draw with Rubin), is far from perfect. Carcedo's squad will likely focus on neutralizing Zenit's threats. Meanwhile, Zenit will be deprived of significant creativity without Douglas Santos and Luis Enrique, which also leans towards predicting a low-goal affair.
