A guide to Orenburg before the midweek game

The blue-white-sky blues are in Orenburg playing a rare midweek league game this evening and Toke Theilade has done the scouting profile to let you know what to expect. 

Zenit travel to Orenburg, a city placed on the boundary of Europe and Asia to take on the local pride FC Orenburg. The city is placed close to the border with Kazakhstan, and although FC Orenburg wrote history when they reached the Russian Football Premier League this season, Orenburg isn’t considered a football city. Instead, it is best known for being hometown of Yuri Gagarin, the famous Russian cosmonaut who was the first human to travel to space.

In fact, this is the first season FC Orenburg ever spends in the top flight, and the promotion came with an unexpected prize. Ever since, the club was founded in 1976, replacing Lokomotiv Orenburg, it has been known as Gazovik, a name it received after the local gas industry, but since the promotion the club ihas become known as FC Orenburg and the owner of the club is now Orenburg Oblast, but this game could ironically be referred to as the Gazprom Derby of the RFPL.

When looking at the results, it is obvious that Orenburg’s debut season hasn’t gone as hoped. They have won just five games all season, and are currently 13th in the league, with five points up to Anzhi on the other side of the relegation line.

Things aren’t all bad for Orenburg though. They have won their last two games, and compared to the autumn, they have looked good in recent weeks. In fact, they were seconds away from getting a draw in Moscow against league leaders Spartak a few weeks ago, when they came back from being down 2-0 only to lose 3-2 after a Quincy Promes goal in the 96th minute.

A major part of the reason for the improvement was Orenburg’s transfers during the winter period. They went from having a squad consisting of inexperienced players with only limited RFPL-experience, to having an absolutely decent squad with a few players with the level to play for mid-table clubs.

Bringing in guys like Belarussian international Stanislav Dragun from Dinamo, former Lokomotiv and Rostov winger Maksim Grigoriev, Slovak international Michal Duris and of course goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov from Zenit quickly improved the results, and they now look like the strongest of the four teams at the bottom of the table.

For the game against Zenit, the home side will have to do without goalkeeper Kerzhakov, who is obviously not allowed to play against the club that owns him. On top of that, midfielder Georgy Gabulov, brother to the former Dinamo Moscow and Anzhi goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov, goalkeeper Dmitry Abakumov, midfielder Roman Vorobjov and defender Aleksandr Katsalapov are all injured, hurting Orenburg’s chances of getting anything from the game.

Toke is head writer over at russianfootballnews.com, be sure to check it out.