Zenit Form
After being knocked out of the upper bracket of the Russian Cup, the Saint Petersburg side have already come through two rounds in the Regions Path, beating Baltika and the Makhachkala team by the same 1:0 scoreline. The defeat to Dynamo Moscow is the team’s only loss in the current edition of the competition; in the other nine matches, Sergei Semak’s men have won in regular time. It is worth noting that Zenit, who were the top-scoring club in the group stage, have scored exactly one goal in each of their last four games in the national cup. However, the team have not conceded in three consecutive matches in this tournament.
- At least one side failed to score in five of Zenit’s last six Russian Cup matches.
- At home, Zenit have won 10 of their last 11 matches (one defeat).
- In six of their last eight home games in the national cup, the club kept a clean sheet.
Potential Zenit Lineup (4-5-1)*
Evgeny Latyshonok – Nuraly Alip, Roman Vega, Vyacheslav Karavaev, Igor Diveev – Yuri Gorshkov, Luis Enrique, Andrey Mostovoy, Wilmar Barrios, Daniil Kondakov – John Duran.
Spartak Moscow Form
The clash with their city rivals Dynamo Moscow in the previous round proved unsuccessful for Juan Carcedo’s men. After a heavy defeat in the first leg (2:5), Spartak Moscow gained revenge in the return match, but only by a 1:0 scoreline, meaning the team dropped into the lower bracket of the tournament. The Moscow club are taking part in this stage for a third straight time, but they have not yet managed to get past it. It is also worth adding that in the previous round Spartak Moscow managed to end a six-match run of conceding goals in the Russian Cup. At the same time, the team have scored in 15 consecutive games in this tournament.
- At least three goals were scored in seven of Spartak Moscow’s last eight matches in the national cup.
- Away from home in this tournament, the club have won five of their last six matches (one defeat).
- In their last six away games in the Russian Cup, the team scored at least twice.
Potential Spartak Moscow Lineup (4-5-1)*
Aleksandr Maksimenko – Daniil Denisov, Oleg Ryabchuk, Aleksandr Dzhikiya, Christopher Wu – Ezequiel Barco, Ruslan Litvinov, Gedson Fernandes, Roman Zobnin, Nikita Massalyga – Manfred Ugalde.
Defenders Srdjan Babic and Ilya Samoshnikov are in the treatment room.
Who Will Referee the Match
Artem Chistyakov (Russia)
Matches – 6 (Russian Cup, 2023/24–2025/26);
Showed yellow cards (including second yellows) – 22;
Average yellow cards per match – 3.7;
Showed red cards – 0;
Fouls per match on average – 29;
Penalties – 33%.
* For each team, the starting XI from their previous match in this tournament is listed.
