Spartak Moscow v Tom Tomsk preview

By: j | August 1st, 2008

Spartak Moscow heads to the Siberian City Tomsk to face FC Tom Tomsk in a critical match in the tightly contested Russian Premier League. This will be a fascinating affair as it matches the high-flying scoring prowess of Spartak against Tom’ Tomsk, which excluding miserable match against Zenit St. Petersburg has been one of the leagues stingiest defenses.

Spartak is sitting tied for fifth position only three points from second place Dinamo Moscow and Amkar Perm and knows that a victory in Tomsk will do their title efforts wonder as it is place where many clubs give-up points. Tom Tomsk sits mid-table, tied with an exhausted Zenit St. Petersburg squad, knows how to win at home with a miserly defense.

Recent Form (prior five matches)
Spartak Moscow - combined ( 2 W, 1 D, 2 L) (8 GS, 10 GA)
May 15 Spartak Moscow 1 - 0 Saturn Moscow
July 6 Terek Grozny 3 - 1 Spartak Moscow
July 12 Spartak Moscow 1 - 5 CSKA Moscow
July 19 Lokomotiv Moscow 2 - 2 Spartak Moscow
July 27 Spartak Moscow 3 - 0 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok

Spartak Moscow - away ( 2 W, 2 D, 1 L) ( 7 GS, 9 GA)
April 19 Spartak Nalchik 1 - 2 Spartak Moscow
May 2 Rubin Kazan 0 - 3 Spartak Moscow
May 11 Samara Kryliya Sovetov 1 - 1 Spartak Moscow
July 6 Terek Grozny 3 - 1 Spartak Moscow
July 19 Lokomotiv Moscow 2 - 2 Spartak Moscow

Tom’ Tomsk - combined ( 2 W, 1 D, 2 L) (6 GS, 7GA)
May 15 Tom’ Tomsk 1 - 1 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
July 6 Zenit St Petersburg 5 - 1 Tom’ Tomsk
July 13 Tom’ Tomsk 1 - 0 Spartak Nalchik
July 19 Tom’ Tomsk 3 - 1 FC Khimki
July 26 Amkar Perm’ 0 - 0 Tom’ Tomsk

Tom Tomsk - Home (2 W, 2 D, 1 L) (5 GS, 3 GA)
April 27 Tom’ Tomsk 0 - 1 Saturn Moscow
May 7 Tom’ Tomsk 0 - 0 CSKA Moscow
May 15 Tom’ Tomsk 1 - 1 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
July 13 Tom’ Tomsk 1 - 0 Spartak Nalchik
July 19 Tom’ Tomsk 3 - 1 FC Khimki

Recent form is the clear advantage of Tom Tomsk both combined and in consideration of how difficult the trip to Tomsk is. The clubs met in the second week of the second in Moscow with Spartak narrowly winning 1-0 on the young Brazilian striker Welliton’s, goal. It’s worth noting that Tom Tomsk did a remarkable job frustrating midfield playmakers Yegor Titov and Vladimir Bystrov throughout the match. Tom Tomsk will lock down the match in a tight 4-5-1 with the mid-field controlled of Valeri Klimov, Dmitri Tarasov and Sergei Skoblyakov and able veteran Alexander Shirko as the lone striker. For Spartak to be successful they must deploy wide flanking attacks, with Vladimir Bystrov setting the tone and Roman Pavlyuchenko and nineteen year-old striker-sensation Aleksandr Prudnikov (pictured below) pouncing on opportunities. Incredible match that you don’t want to miss.