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Zenit St. Petersburg and Malmö go head-to-head at the Gazprom Arena in Group H of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
Both sides will be looking to pick up a win and get their campaign up and running after falling to their respective opening-day defeats.
Zenit St. Petersburg maintained their position at the top of the Russian Premier League table as they claimed a 2-1 win over Krylya Sovetov Samara last Saturday.
It was the second consecutive victory for Sergej Semak’s men, who claimed a comfortable 3-1 victory over Rubin Kazan.
Zenit St. Petersburg will now return to the Champions League where they pushed defending champions Chelsea to the limit before suffering a 1-0 defeat in their Group H curtain-raiser.
Meanwhile, Malmö suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Juventus when they faced off in their group opener two Tuesdays ago.
They head into the game off the back of a thrilling 5-1 victory over Orebro in the Swedish top-flight last Saturday.
With 41 points from 21 games, Malmö are currently second in the Allsvenskan and will be looking to keep the ball rolling and pick up their first win of the continental tournament.
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Malmö Head-To-Head
This will be the first meeting between the two sides and they will both be aiming to begin their rivalry on a winning note.
Zenit St. Petersburg Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-L-W-W
Malmö Form Guide (all competitions): D-L-D-W-W
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Malmö Team News
Zenit St. Petersburg
Dejan Lovren, Wilmar Barrios, Magomed Ozdoev and Vyacheslav Karavaev are all presently nursing injuries and will miss the game.
Injured: Dejan Lovren, Wilmar Barrios, Magomed Ozdoev, Vyacheslav Karavaev
Suspended: None
Malmö
Jonas Knudsen, Ola Toivonen, Oscar Lewicki, Soren Reims and Niklas Moisander will all sit out the game through injuries. There are no suspension concerns for Malmö.
Injured: Jonas Knudsen, Ola Toivonen, Oscar Lewicki, Soren Reims, Niklas Moisander
Suspended: None
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Malmö Predicted XI
Zenit Saint Petersburg Predicted XI (4-4-2): Stanislav Kritsyuk; Aleksey Sutormin, Dmitri Chistyakov, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos; Aleksandr Erokhin, Daler Kuzyaev, Claudinho, Malcolm; Artem Dzyuba, Serdar Azmoun
Malmo Predicted XI (3-52): Johan Dahlin; Anel Ahmedhodzic, Lasse Nielsen, Martin Olsson; Jo Inge Berget, Anders Christiansen, Sebastian Nanasi, Erdal Rakip, Bonke Innocent; Viljeko Birmacevic, Antonio Colak
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Malmö Prediction
We expect a thrilling contest between the two sides, who will be looking to bounce back from their opening-day defeats.
Zenit head into the game in stronger form and we predict they will take advantage of their home crowd support to claim all three points.
Prediction: Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0 Malmö
