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Fresh off the back of a Champions League defeat at the hands of Chelsea, Zenit St. Petersburg return to the Russian Premier League where they take on Rubin Kazan at the Kazan Arena on Monday.
The visitors will be looking to get one over the hosts after falling to defeats in both home and away fixtures last season.
Rubin Kazan ended their two-game losing streak last time out as they claimed a 4-0 win over Ural Yekaterinburg.
Prior to that, Leonid Slutskiy’s men were on a five-game winless run, including successive league and friendly defeats against Krasnodar in their last two outings.
With 14 points from seven games, Rubin Kazan are currently fourth in the league table, three points behind Zenit, who currently lead the way in the division.
Meanwhile, Zenit St. Petersburg made it two wins from two games in their last league outing when they edged out Akhmat Grozny on home turf last Saturday.
Mohamed Konate pulled one back for the visitors in the 51st minute after Zenit raced to a two-goal lead inside the first 33 minutes, but Malcom struck with seven minutes remaining to restore Zenit’s two-goal lead.
This was followed by a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in their Champions League Group H opener, where Romelu Lukaku came up clutch for the Blues in the 69th minute.
Prior to that, Sergej Semak’s side were on a blistering run of 20 games without defeat, dating back to a 2-1 loss to Monday’s hosts back in March.
Rubin Kazan vs Zenit St.Petersburg Head-To-Head
With 18 wins from the previous 39 meetings, Zenit St. Petersburg have been the superior side in the history of this fixture. Rubin Kazan have picked up 12 wins, while nine games have ended in draws.
Rubin Kazan Form Guide (all competitions): D-D-L-L-W
Zenit Form Guide (all competitions): D-D-W-W-L
Rubin Kazan vs Zenit St.Petersburg Team News
Rubin Kazan
The hosts will be without the services of Oleg Shatov and Aleksandr Zuev, who have both been sidelined through injuries.
Injured: Oleg Shatov, Aleksandr Zuev
Suspended: None
Zenit
The visitors will be unable to call upon the services of Magomed Ozdoev and Vyacheslav Karavaev, who are recuperating from injuries.
Injured: Magomed Ozdoev, Vyacheslav Karavaev
Suspended: None
Rubin Kazan vs Zenit St.Petersburg Predicted XI
Rubin Kazan Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Yuri Dyupin; Georgi Zotov, Filip Uremović, Montassar Talbi, Ilya Samoshnikov; Oliver Abildgaard, In-Beom Hwang; Anders Dreyer, Sead Hakšabanović, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia; Đorđe Despotović
Zenit Saint Petersburg Predicted XI (4-4-2): Stanislav Kritsyuk, Aleksey Sutormin, Dejan Lovren, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos, Aleksandr Erokhin, Daler Kuzyaev, Claudinho, Malcom, Artem Dzyuba, Serdar Azmoun
Rubin Kazan vs Zenit St.Petersburg Prediction
Both sides have enjoyed a solid start to the season and currently find themselves in the top four of the league standings. We predict a thrilling contest as they will be looking to keep the juggernaut rolling. However, we predict Zenit St. Petersburg will come away with the win as they boast a stronger squad.
Prediction: Rubin Kazan 1-2 Zenit
