The start of the season in Russia is upon us and with the first competitive match of the season, the first title is also up for grabs. As in many other countries, the Super Cup is an important yardstick for two of the most successful teams of the previous season.
Ahead of the match between Zenit St. Petersburg and Lokomotive Moscow, the betting odds show that the roles are clearly distributed. Champions Zenit have their noses in front at the bookmakers, and by a relatively wide margin. But Lokomotive Moscow still has a chance.
Because such a knockout match, even more so at the start of the season, brings some interesting things with it. Moreover, the outsiders are, after all, the cup winners of the previous season. Kick-off at the Kaliningrad stadium is at 6 pm on Saturday afternoon.
Prediction & Live Odds for Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Lokomotive Moscow
Two top teams from Russia face each other in a direct duel. Zenit St. Petersburg have been unbeaten in nine consecutive league matches, while Lokomotive Moscow have won 13 of their last 15 league games. That alone makes for an exciting starting position.
Before the match between Zenit St. Petersburg and Lokomotive Moscow, our tip is that Zenit will win the match and claim their first trophy of the season. ✅ The individual quality is higher than that of the opponents, plus they have always looked good against Lok recently.
Zenit St. Petersburg – Statistics & Current Form
In their first competitive match of the new season, Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg will be looking to prove that the title can only be won by this team this season. Zenit have had an extensive preparation, testing a lot against teams from Germany. They played three games without defeat against Schalke (0:0), Bremen (2:2) and Karlsruher SC (3:1).
Ahead of the match Zenit St. Petersburg vs Lokomotive Moscow, the odds indicate a favourite role for the team that is the host on paper, even if it is played in Kaliningrad. For example, the bookmakers tested by us offers odds of 1.62 for a home win. This makes it clear that Zenit has some arguments on its own side.
These include, above all, the high individual quality in the squad of coach Sergey Semak. With players like Douglas Santos, Wendel, Sardar Azmoun or Artem Dzyuba, the team is very well-staffed. Moreover, Zenit St. Petersburg is well-rehearsed and has kept a low profile in the transfer market this summer.
Zenit St. Petersburg aim to win first title
Last season was a very successful one for Zenit. This team remained unbeaten in the last nine competitive matches. Also impressive were the 76 goals Zenit scored in just 30 games in the Russian league. This team scored three or more times in the pre-season 13 times. Particularly impressive was the last match against Lokomotive Moscow, which was won 6:1.
Now that both the team and the coach have remained the same, it can be assumed that nothing to little has changed in the style of play of this team. Zenit remains a team that, on a good day, is capable of playing itself into a frenzy. Especially because of this, but also because both teams are still in the preparation phase, our value tip before the match Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Lokomotive Moscow is that more than 2.5 goals will be scored.
Predicted line-up of Zenit St. Petersburg: Kerzhakov – Karavaev, Chistyakov, Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos – Barrios, Kuzyaev, Wendel, Driussi, Malcom – Azmoun
Lokomotive Moscow – Statistics & current form
Just like last year, Lokomotive Moscow will face Zenit St. Petersburg in the Super Cup. Back then, also as the start of the new season, Lok had to live with a 1:2 defeat. The aim now, however, is to win the rematch. The end of last season is particularly encouraging, as Lokomotive Moscow have won 13 of their last 15 competitive matches.
In this series, there was only one defeat, but against the rivals from St. Petersburg. Ahead of the match between Zenit St. Petersburg and Lokomotive Moscow, the odds offered by the best bookmakers show that things are not looking very good for coach Marko Nikolic’s team this time either.
Lokomotive Moscow will start the new season with one or two changes to the squad, but will primarily continue to rely on the team from the previous season. Individual additions will be made to broaden the squad. Coach Nikolic, who could still sign further new players, is also counting on gradually developing the team and continuing to give it his typical style of play.
Lokomotive Moscow want to annoy Zenit
Lokomotive Moscow will try to upset the favourites in this Super Cup match. Individually, the team cannot quite keep up, but with players like Pablo, Grzegorz Krychowiak or Anton Miranchuk, there is certainly quality in the various parts of the team. Especially at the end of the season, the team often played in a 4-3-1-2 system, which played a significant role in the series. This allowed the qualities of the individual players to come into their own even better. This is likely to be the method of choice at the start of the new season as well.
Both teams are well-rehearsed and want to win the first title of the season. Therefore, this match promises to be quite exciting. However, traditionally not all automatisms are generated at the end of the preparation, even if the team knows each other. All in all, there is much to suggest that it will be an interesting match, but the champions have more quality on the pitch. Therefore, before the match between Zenit St. Petersburg and Lokomotive Moscow, our prediction is that Zenit will win the match.
Lokomotive Moscow’s predicted line-up: Guilherme – Nenakhov, Cerqueira, Pablo, Rybus – Barinov, Kulikov, Magkeev – Miranchuk – Kamano, Smolov.