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Stuttering Zenit will host perennial rivals Spartak Moscow on Sunday evening in Russian Premier League action.
The home team suffered back-to-back league defeats after losing to FC Sochi and less-fancied Arsenal Tula last weekend. Their dip in form allowed FC Sochi to come within two points of the reigning champions at the Russian Premier League summit.
Zenit's miseries only intensified following another Champions League defeat on Thursday night as they lost to Juventus.
For their rivals, they have come within touching distance of the Champions League qualification slots and sit only six points behind the leaders, Zenit.
Zenit Saint Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow Head-to-Head
Zenit has dominated this tie in recent history, with Spartak's last win in the fixture coming way back in 2017 Russian Premier League .
In their last five outings, Zenit has come out on top on four occasions while one ended in a stalemate.
Recent form, nevertheless, favors the visitors who have picked up 10 points from their last five games compared to Zenit's nine.
Zenit Form Guide: L-L-L-W-W
Spartak Moscow Form Guide: L-D-W-W-W
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow Team News
Zenit
Magomed Ozdoev remains sidelined due to injury and will miss the match.
Doubtful: Magomed Ozdoev
Suspended: None
Spartak Moscow
The visitors will be without Pavel Maslov, Ezequiel Ponce, Nail Umyarov and Georgi Melkadze, who are out due to injury. Jorrit Hendrix is a doubt for the game.
Injured: Pavel Maslov, Georgi Melkadze, Ezequiel Ponce, Nail Umyarov
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Jorrit Hendrix
Zenit St.Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow Predicted XI
Zenit Saint Petersburg Predicted XI (4-4-2): Stanislav Kritsyuk, Aleksey Sutormin, Dejan Lovren, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos, Andrie Mostvoy, Aleksandr Erokhin, Daler Kuzyaev, Claudinho, Malcolm, Artem Dzyuba
Spartak Moscow Predicted XI (3-4-3): Aleksandr Maksimenko; Nikolay Rasskazov, Samuel Gigot, Georgiy Dzhikiya; Victor Moses, Roman Zobnin, Ruslan Litvinov, Ayrton Lucas; Jordan Larsson, Zelimkhan Bakaev, Quincy Promes
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow Prediction
This is a highly-anticipated match in this weekend's RPL action.
Zenit will obviously walk into this fixture as favorites given their recent history, but they will have a lot to prove in order to leave this game with full points. Their recent defeat to Arsenal Tula has signaled an obvious weakness at the back, something that Spartak will look to exploit.
This game presents a great opportunity for the visitors to earn a much-awaited victory against the Sky Blues.
Prediction: Zenit St. Petersburg 1-0 Spartak Moscow
