Terek Grozny v Zenit St Petersburg match preview

By: j | August 13th, 2008

This mid-week makeup match will have a huge impact upon Zenit’s fading title aspirations. A victory today would see them locked in a tie with CSKA for sixth in the tight title race while a loss will like re-direct their focus towards the Champions League. However in the way of Zenit is Terek Grozny that knows the Zenit squad is weakened and victory in Saint Petersburg will catapult their European dreams forward.

Recent Form
Terek Grozny – combined (1 W, 3 D, 1 L) ( 2 GS, 3 GA)
Jul 13 FC Moscow 0 – 0 Terek Grozny
Jul 20 Terek Grozny 0 – 0 Rubin Kazan
Jul 27 YFK Shinnik Yaroslav 1 – 1 Terek Grozny
Aug 3 Terek Grozny 1 – 0 Saturn Moscow
Aug 10 Spartak Nalchik 2 – 0 Terek Grozny

Terek Grozny – away (1 W, 2 D, 2 L) ( 3 GS, 5 GA)
May 7 FC Khimki 0 – 1 Terek Grozny
May 16 Dinamo Moscow 2 – 1 Terek Grozny
Jul 13 FC Moscow 0 – 0 Terek Grozny
Jul 27 YFK Shinnik Yaroslav 1 – 1 Terek Grozny
Aug 10 Spartak Nalchik 2 – 0 Terek Grozny

Zenit St Petersburg – combined ( 1 W, 2 D, 2 L) ( 4 GS, 7 GA)
Jul 23 Zenit St Petersburg 1 – 1 Lokomotiv Moscow
Jul 26 Dinamo Moscow 1 – 0 Zenit St Petersburg
Jul 30 CSKA Moscow 0 – 0 Zenit St Petersburg
Aug 2 Zenit St Petersburg 2 – 1 FC Moscow
Aug 10 Rubin Kazan 4 – 1 Zenit St Petersburg

Zenit St Petersburg – home ( 3 W, 1 D, 1 L) ( 13 GS, 7 GA)
Sun. 6 Zenit St Petersburg 5 – 1 Tom’ Tomsk
Wed. 9 Zenit St Petersburg 3 – 4 Spartak Nalchik
Sat. 19 Zenit St Petersburg 2 – 0 Amkar Perm’
Wed. 23 Zenit St Petersburg 1 – 1 Lokomotiv Moscow
Sat. 2 Zenit St Petersburg 2 – 1 FC Moscow

Zenit will be without both Sébastien Puygrenier and Anatoliy Tymoschuk for the match as they were both red-carded in the Rubin Kazan meltdown. Fatigue is certainly an issue as that was their tenth match in four weeks and today is a test of mental toughness in front of their fans. To rebound from this they will need Viktor Faitzulin, Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyryanov to step-up for this match in the midfield and Andrei Arshavin and Fatih Tekke to regain their finishing touch. Alejandro Domínguez if healthy and in the line-up could make the difference in this match. The twelfth-man will be big element for Zenit as they have shown in the past to rebound in front of their fans.

Terek Grozny knows the champions are bloodied and on the ropes. They will sit tight in a 3-5-2 and be ready to pounce on their errors, learning from Rubin Kazen’s victory. They will slow Zenit down, keep the ball in the tightly packed midfield and follow a disciplined approach with few errors. Match time decisions on the play of the Romanian trio of Florentin Petre, Andrei Margaritescu and Daniel Pancu will have a dramatic impact on the match.

I will review this exciting match, which is set to begin in one hour, after it concludes. The match is broadcast live online so don’t miss out.