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Zenit St. Petersburg will host Spartak Moscow at the Gazprom Arena on Wednesday in the second leg of the semifinals of the 2023-24 Russian Cup campaign.
The home side have performed well in their league assignments this season but will turn their attention to cup action on Wednesday. They beat Krasnodar 2-1 in their last match, finding themselves a goal down at the break before Mateo Cassierra and substitute Artur got on the scoresheet in the second-half to help secure maximum points.
Spartak Moscow, meanwhile, have endured a rather disappointing league campaign and will hope they can find better luck in the domestic cup this week. They were beaten 1-0 by relegation-threatened Sochi in their last match, failing to create any noteworthy chances to get on the scoresheet before their opponents scored the winner 15 minutes from normal time.
Zenit St. Petersburg picked up a 2-1 victory in the first-leg clash earlier in the month, heading into the break a goal down before 18-year-old Pedro netted a second-half brace to hand Sine-Belo-Golubye the advantage ahead of the return leg on Wednesday.
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Wednesday's game will mark the 70th meeting between Zenit and Spartak. The hosts have won 29 of their previous matchups while the visitors have won 21 times. There have been 19 draws between the two teams.
- The hosts are undefeated in their last five games in this fixture.
- The visitors have managed just one clean sheet in their last six games across all competitions.
- Zenit have the best defensive record in the Russian top flight this season with a goal concession tally of 20.
- Six of the Gladiators' eight league defeats this season have come on the road.
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow Prediction
Zenit are on a three-game winning streak and are undefeated in their last eight competitive outings. They are undefeated at the Gazprom Arena since last October and will fancy their chances ahead of the midweek clash.
Spartak have lost two of their last three games and have won just one of their last four. They have won just one of their last five games on the road and could see defeat this week.
Prediction: Zenit St. Petersburg 3-1 Spartak Moscow
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Zenit St. Petersburg to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Six of the last eight matches between the two teams have produced more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in three of their last four matchups)
