Sergei Semak’s side start the game in top spot and won their last game 3-1 against FC Ural. Claudinho got Zenit scoring early on before Yuri Alberto doubled the lead with a sublime finish, controlling the ball on the edge of the box with one touch, before curling in a shot at a changed direction with his next. Artem Dzyuba finished off the scoring for Zenit before Yuri Zhelenov bagged a consolation.

Zenit’s challengers for the title this campaign, Dynamo Moscow, lost on Sunday evening against city rivals CSKA 1-0. This gives Semak’s side the chace to extend the gap at the top of the table with a win against Krasnodar to 6 points for the first time in weeks.

Krasnodar’s season was thrown into turmoil at the end of February with newly appointed ex-Norwich manager Daniel Farke leaving Russia. The German had been at the club but never coached them in a game. Along with Farke, 8 of their foreign nationals left the side. This meant the likes of Erik Botheim, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Remy Cabella have departed. 

Farke was replaced with Krasnodar-2 boss, Aleksandr Storozhuk. This, however, has allowed the club to take the route it has wanted to for a while, in allowing players from the second side to transition to the main team, under Storozhuk’s steer, albeit until his contract ends at the end of June. In the six RPL games that Storozhuk has overseen, he has won half of them, including a 2-1 win over Spartak Moscow. Eduard Spertsyan scored a brace for the side in that game. 

Despite their circumstances, the team can still push for a top 4 finish this season, currently sitting in 6th, 7 points from Sochi, this would be a remarkable accomplishment for the Bulls. In their last meeting, back in August, Zenit ran out 3-2 winners. Serdar Azmoun opened the scoring in the 9th minute, before Jhon Cordoba levelled. The Colombian had scored 6 in his first 15 games. 

Azmoun netted again before Erokhin scored a third for Zenit before half time. Serbian defender Uros Spajic made the last 15 minutes of the contest nervy as he scored the Bulls second, but Zenit held strong. 

Before the game, Semak was wary of the sides ability in recent weeks saying; “they are a young team that have been playing quite well in the spring and picked up a lot of points.” he went on to say, “playing away against Krasnodar is always difficult so we’re getting ready for a tough match.”

Krasnodar v Zenit takes kicks off at 7pm St. Petersburg time/ 5pm London and can be viewed worldwide on the RPL YouTube channel.