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Zenit St. Petersburg and Midtjylland open the Atlantic Cup 2022 with a clash at the Estádio Algarve in a neutral Portugal on Thursday.
The Russian side won the title in their last appearance at the tournament proper in 2016 and will be hoping for a repeat here.
They're scheduled to play against two other Danish outfits, Copenhagen and Brondy after this.
Midtjylland, meanwhile, last won the cup in 2012 but finished poorly in the 2014 and 2015 editions.
Head coach Bo Henriksen has called up a strong team for their games against Zenit, Iceland's Breiðablik and Norwegian side Vålerenga.
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Zenit St. Petersburg vs Midtjylland Head-To-Head
The sides have never met in an official encounter before.
Zenit St. Petersburg Form Guide (all competitions): D-D-D-W-W
Midtjylland Form Guide (all competitions): W-D-L-W-W
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Midtjylland Team News
Zenit St. Petersburg
Wendel is the only injury concern for the side right now as the midfielder has been out with a thigh muscle problem since December.
Wilmar Barrios will join the squad after he returns from international duty with Colombia.
With the all-important Europa League game against Real Betis just a few days away, head coach Sergei Semak is unlikely to play his strongest XI in the competition.
Injured: Wendell
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Midtjylland
The Wolves have called up a 30-man squad for the Atlantic Cup, including six players from the U-19 side.
However, Henrik Dalsgaard misses out because of a family emergency.
Auer Mabil, Bozhidar Kraev, Valdemar Birksø, Hosine Bility, Victor Bak and Frederik Heiselberg all miss out too.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Auer Mabil, Bozhidar Kraev, Valdemar Birksø, Hosine Bility, Victor Bak, Frederik Heiselberg, Henrik Dalsgaard
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Midtjylland Predicted XI
Zenit St. Petersburg (4-3-3): David Byazrov; Vyacheslav Karavaev, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Danila Khotulev, Douglas Santos; Magomed Ozdoev, Kirill Kravtsov, Aleksandr Erokhin; Aleksey Sutormin, Artem Dzyuba, Aleksey Sutormin.
Midtjylland (3-5-2): Elías Rafn Ólafsson; Erik Sviatchenko, Juninho, Mads Døhr Thychosen; Oscar Fraulo, Oliver Sörensen, Max Meyer, Gustav Isaksen, Charles; Vágner Love, Júnior Brumado.
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Midtjylland Prediction
Neither side are likely to play their best XI, but even so, the Sky Blues have a quality squad with lots of experience in their ranks.
Midtjylland are missing several key players and shouldn't be much of a problem for the Russian side to deal with.
Prediction: Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0 Midtjylland
