After a 2-1 defeat against Nizhny Novgorod in their last league match, Kazan were looking for a better result in this match. In that match, Kazan had 64% of the possession and attempted a total of 23 shots, 7 of which were on target. Nizhny Novgorod, on the other hand, had seven shots on goal, three of which were on target. Nikolay Kalinsky (16'), Edgar Sevikyan (28') and Kirill Gotzke (50' own goal) scored for Nizhny Novgorod.
Recent matches involving Kazan have often been energizing, with goals scored by both sides occurring frequently. In their last six matches, the sides have scored 20 goals (an average of 3.33 goals per game), seven of which have come from Kazan. Kazan failed to beat Zenit-St. Petersburg in their first two league games. They are unbeaten in their last two home games.
Zenit, however, drew 1-1 in their last Russian Premier League match against CSKA Moscow. In that game, Zenit-St. Petersburg had 71% possession and attempted 14 shots, four of which were on target. Douglas Santos (88') was the lone goal scorer for Zenit-St. Petersburg. Opponents CSKA Moscow, on the other hand, had four shot attempts, one of which was on target. Anton Zapolotny (4') was CSKA Moscow's goal scorer.
In their last 6 appearances, Zenit have scored 13 goals. Zenit have also scored in all of those outings. In that time, their defenders have scored 6 goals by their opponents. While this may be of interest, we will have to wait to see if this pattern continues in the upcoming matches. Going into this game, Zenit are unbeaten in their last nine away league games. It's safe to say that's an impressive record.
Checking their past history against each other since September 21, 2019 shows that Kazan won 2 of those matches and Zenit-St. Petersburg won 4, none of which were draws. Those matches were also goal-filled, with a total of 23 goals scored and an average of 3.83 goals per game. The last time these two teams met in the league was in the 19th round of the Russian Premier League on February 28, 2022, when the result was Zenit 3-2 Kazan. In that match, Zenit had 61% possession and 28 shots, 10 of which were on target. The scorers included Yuri Alberto (48'), Alexei Sutolmin (55') and Ivan Sergeyev (92'). At the other end, Kazan had eight chances on goal, three of which were on target. Vitali Lisakovich (61', 67') scored.
Kazan could go with a 3-5-2 formation in this match, including Yuri Diupin, Igor Vujacic, Alexei Gritchenko, A. Martinovic, Dmitry Kabutov, Ugochuk Iwu, Umalali Rakhmonarev, Aleksandr Zotov, A. Lomovetskiy, Mirlind Daku and Joel Fameyer.
Zenit could opt for a 3-5-2 formation including Mikhail Korzhakov, Strahinja Elakovic, Nurali Alip, Douglas Santos, Mario Fernandez, Claudinho, Wendell, Wilmar Barrios, Daniel Krugovoy, Ivan Sergeyev and Matteo Casiera.
SCORE PREDICTION: Kazan may find it very difficult to score a goal against Zenit St. Petersburg, and we think Zenit may have a slight edge. With that in mind, we expect this to be a competitive match, with Zenit winning by a narrow 1-0 margin at the end of the 90 minutes.
