Sergei Semak’s side were last in league action back in November before the extended Winter Break, where they travelled to the capitol beating Torpedo Moscow 2-0. Malcom and Claudinho were on target that day, with their late goals ensuring Zenit remained top of the table into the New Year. 

During the Off-season, the blue-white-sky blues went on a training camp to the United Arab Emirates, playing friendlies with Malaysian Champions Johor, Iranian side Sepahan as well as an 8-0 win against Dubai City. Zenit’s final test before Saturday’s league resumption was a cold Cup clash on the Volga river, where they saw off FNL side Volga Ulyanovsk 3-0. Zelimkhan Bakaev got the games opener in the first half with a powerful direct header following a pinpoint cross from Douglas Santos. Colombian striker Mateo Cassierra hit the second in the 79th minute with a looping header from a corner before Ivan Sergeev put the game to bed late into added time. 

Pari NN announced a new coach on New Years Eve to take over from caretaker boss Anton Khazov, who had steered the side to 12th place before the Winters Break, five points off from Fakel in the drop zone. With only five wins in the first half of the season, The side from Nizhny Novgorod have called upon Artyom Gorlov to take the helm. Gorlov is just 35, but has experience managing Kuban-2 Krasnodar as well as Zenit-2 rivals Dolgroprudny and Znamya Truda. Gorlov has also coached Lithuanian side Palanga and Russian second-tier team Yenisey before taking up the job in Novgorod. So far, the new boss has been tested just once, in a cup game in Saint-Petersburg last weekend, against Zvezda. Nizhny won 2-0 with Nikita Kakkoev and Daniil Kornyushin on the team sheet. 
Nizhny won their last league game before the break, surviving a late comeback against Akhmat Grozny to win 3-2. The formation for both games was similar with a 3-4-3 approach, but impressive young central defender Ilya Agapov was snapped up by CSKA Moscow during the winter break. Kakkoev came back into the team making an instant impact. Nizhny keep a strong backline Argentine Lucas Masoero partnered Kakkoev with Viktor Aleksandrov completing the defensive trio. Yaroslav Mikhailov and Mamadou Maiga hold the midfield with Timur Suleymanov up top. 

Zenit’s last league game at the Gazprom Arena against Nizhny was back in November 2021 in a 5-1 win. Malcom opened proceedings before Artem Dzyuba made it 2-0. Aleksei Kozlov, now with Rostov, notched one back for the visitors before Cameroonian Petrus Boumal was given his marching orders, giving Zenit the opportunity to open up the game. The home side did just that with Dzyuba scoring a goal either side of half time to complete his hat trick. Dmitri Chistyakov scored the fifth in the 87th minute. 

In the sides last league contest, Zenit won 3-0 away in Novgorod with a dominant 61 percent of the possession with Daler Kuzyayev, Malcom and Claudinho on target. The home side were without a shot on target. 

Before Saturday’s game Semak spoke about his preparation, watching Nizhny’s recent cup game in Saint-Petersburg saying “Their second goal killed the game off” adding “Pari NN looked much stronger in the game and deservedly won”

Semak alluded to Claudinho being a doubt due to a reoccurring issue but said all other players are available for the match.

Zenit v Pari NN takes place today at the Gazprom Arena and kicks off at 4.30pm St. Petersburg time/1.30pm UK.