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Zenit St Petersburg will welcome FC Ufa to the Gazprom Arena for a Russian Premier League clash on Saturday.
The hosts currently occupy top spot on the table, having picked up five wins and two draws from their eight matches thus far, while Ud are 14th with five points from a possible 24.
Zenit St Petersburg saw a first-half lead evaporate to draw 1-1 away to Ural last weekend, while UFA were defeated 1-0 at home by CSKA Moscow.
Zenit St Petersburg vs FC Ufa Head-to-Head
Zenit St Petersburg have met with Ufa on 13 occasions in the past, with eight matches ending in a victory for Zenit, while Ufa have won just one and drew four.
The most recent meeting between the pair came in March and ended in a goalless draw.
Zenit St Petersburg form guide: W-L-D-W-D
FC Ufa form guide (all competitions): L-D-L-W-D
Zenit St Petersburg vs FC Ufa Team News
Zenit St Petersburg
Zenit St Petersburg have goalkeeper Andrey Lunev (hip flexor) and winger Sebastian Driussi (median ligament) ruled out through injury.
There are no suspension worries for the home side.
Injuries: Andrey Lunev, Sebastian Driussi
Suspensions: none
FC Ufa
There are no injury concerns or suspensions for FC Ufa ahead of their fixture with Zenit St Petersburg. Although the duo of Pavel Aikin and Igor Bezdenzhnykh will have to be careful not to pick up bookings.
Zenit St Petersburg vs FC Ufa Predicted XI
Zenit St Petersburg Predicted XI (4-4-2): Mikhail Kerzhakov; Danil Krugovoy, Douglas Santos, Dejan Lovren, Vyasceslav Karavayev; Malcom, Wilmar Barrios, Magomed Odzoyev, Andrei Mostovoy; Artem Dyzuba, Sardar Azmoun
FC Ufa Predicted XI: (5-4-1): Aleksandr Belenov, Bojan Jokic, Jemal Tabitze, Pavel Alikin, Ionut Nedelcearu, Aleksandr Sukov, Azer Aliyev, Igor Bezdenezhnykh, Oleh Danchenko, Kirill Folmer, Timur Zhamaletdinov
Zenit St Petersburg vs FC Ufa Prediction
Zenit St Petersburg started the season brightly and won their first four matches of the campaign, although they have fallen short in recent weeks, with just one win from their last four league games.
Despite this, they still sit top of the table, albeit due to goal difference and there is little margin for error, as they are just one point ahead of third-placed CSKA Moscow.
Up next for Zenit is a clash with second-placed Spartak Moscow, making a win here imperative as a confidence boost going into that battle of the big guns.
They will, however, fancy their chances against an out-of-sorts Ufa who have won just one of their last 13 league matches (stretching back to last season).
Prediction: Zenit 3-0 FC Ufa
