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Spartak Moscow continue their title challenge at the Spartak stadium in Tambov, taking on the league minnows in gameweek 9 of the 2020-21 Russian Premier League season.
Tambov are struggling in the relegation playoff spots, while Spartak are second to Zenit St-Petersburg on goal difference alone.
Tambov come into the fixture with a relative uptick in form, despite losing 1-0 to Lokomotiv Moscow in their most recent game. A 2-0 win over relegation rivals Ufa was followed by a 2-1 win over third-tier Mashuk KMV in the Russian Cup.
As for Spartak, they bounced back from their 3-1 defeat away to CSKA in the Moscow derby by thrashing Rodina 5-1 in the Russian Cup.
Far more impressive, however, was their 2-0 win away to Rubin Kazan on 20 September. After goals from Jordan Larsson and an own goal put them 2-0 ahead, a red card for Pavel Maslov meant that they faced a barrage of shots from Rubin Kazan in the final 30 minutes, with goalkeeper Aleksandar Maksimenko turning in a man-of-the-match performance.
Tambov vs Spartak Moscow Head-to-Head
Since last year was Tambov’s first in the Russian Premier Liga, the two teams have met each other only twice. Incredibly, Tambov did the double over their much-vaunted rivals, defeating them 2-0 at home before staging an incredible comeback to win 3-2 away at the Discovery Arena in Moscow.
FC Tambov form guide: L-D-W-W-L
Spartak Moscow form guide: W-W-L-W-W
Tambov vs Spartak Moscow Team News
Sergey Pervushin has a full squad to choose from, with no news of any injuries ahead of the game. The Tambov manager is likely to continue with his settled starting XI, using the 3-4-3 formation with Kirill Panchenko leading the line.
Injuries: None
Doubtful: None
Suspensions: None
Domenico Tedesco does not have too many walking wounded to deal with, with Maksim Glushenkov expected to be out until November. Aleksandr Tashaev is a doubt for this game, while Pavel Maslov serves his one-game ban after a red card against Rubin Kazan.
With a crucial game against Zenit coming up next, Tedesco may be tempted to rotate, although there is a week’s worth of recovery time ahead of that early-season title decider.
Injuries: Maksim Glushenkov
Doubtful: Aleksandr Tashaev
Suspensions: Pavel Maslov
Tambov vs Spartak Moscow Predicted Lineups
FC Tambov Predicted XI (3-4-3): Sergei Ryzhikov (GK); Evgeni Shlyakov, Aleksey Gritsaenko, Adessoye Oyevole; Aleksei Rubin, Guram Tetrashvili, Valeriu Ciuperca, Oleksandr Kapliyenko; Pavel Karasyov, Kirill Panchenko, Vladimir Obukhov
Spartak Moscow Predicted XI (3-4-3): Aleksandr Maksimenko (GK); Ilya Kutepov, Samuel Gigot, Georgiy Dzhikiya; Roman Zobnin, Nail Umyarov, Alex Kral, Ayrton Lucas; Jordan Larsson, Ezequiel Ponce, Zelimkhan Bakaev
Tambov vs Spartak Moscow Prediction
Spartak are obvious favourites going into this one, but like last season proved, Tambov have the capability to spring a surprise.
Spartak coach Tedesco will be determined to not lose further ground to Zenit in the title race and is likely to name a strong side to keep the momentum going. Jordan Larsson is in great goal-scoring form and could be set to trouble the Tambov defence.
Prediction: Tambov 1-3 Spartak Moscow
