Spartak vs Lokomotiv on April 5: team uniforms, analytics and forecast for the 23rd round of the Russian Premier League
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- Spartak vs Lokomotiv on April 5: team uniforms, analytics and forecast for the 23rd round of the Russian Premier League
In the last match of the 23rd round of the Russian Premier League, the Moscow derby between Spartak and Lokomotiv will take place. The main sign of the tour promises a large abundance of goals, given the ability of the "railwaymen" to concede a lot and score even more. Despite the injury to the main star of the "red-green" Alexei Batrakov, the Russian midfielder can help the team earn points in an important match.
Form of commands
Loko's last five matches have not been successful: during this period, Mikhail Galaktionov's team scored only two wins, two draws and suffered one defeat. It is worth noting separately that the Railwaymen won only over Tula Arsenal (1:2) from the middle of the FNL table and Tolyatti Akron (5:1), which is in 10th place in the RPL. Lokomotiv drew with Akhmat (2:2) at home and Krylia Sovetov (2:2) in Samara, from which the Red-Greens were eliminated from the Russian Cup in a penalty shootout.
Despite Lokomotiv's unconvincing form in March, the team is the leader in goals scored in the 2025/26 season, hitting their opponents' goal 48 times. However, Loko has conceded 30 goals this season, which is the worst result among the top 8 teams in the championship (only Spartak has the same number), Sport-Express clarifies. The goal of the "red-greens" is to catch up with the leaders of the championship in the person of Zenit and Krasnodar, and the match with Spartak is the best opportunity to gain a foothold in the top 3.
The Red-Whites, who are in sixth place in the RPL table, have won three games and lost two in their last five matches. Spartak defeated Dynamo Moscow (2:5) in the Russian Cup and Zenit (0:2) in St. Petersburg, defeating Akron (4:3) and Orenburg (2:0). Another victory came in the home match against Dynamo (1-0) in the second leg of the Russian Cup, but this did not allow Juan Carcedo's team to avoid relegation from the tournament.
Spartak's instability is due to the fact that the Spanish specialist is already the third coach of the Moscow team this season, and Carcedo has yet to assemble a "backbone" capable of competing for high places in the RPL. Miroslav Romashchenko, a former assistant coach of the Russian national team, shared that Spartak's game in the spring looks "very fun and creative," but sometimes unstable due to defensive errors. In his opinion, Carcedo began to play more attacking football, connecting laterals to the center of the field, thereby gaining an advantage in the midfield zone.
Match scenario, game forecast
Despite the large number of goals conceded, Lokomotiv has been steadily gaining points throughout the season, which cannot be said about Spartak. Dmitry Kombarov, a former red and white football player, said that the team does not have integrity, although it has a number of high-quality players. He believes that at the moment Carcedo is only "plugging" problematic positions with the help of Roman Zobnin and Ruslan Litvinov. And it is precisely this kind of confusion that does not allow the team to consistently score points; what is worth is the lack of consistency in the standards: in the spring, the red-whites allow two or three strikes as a result of serves from corners or free kicks.
Lokomotiv, on the other hand, is very dangerous in standard positions: after the friendly match with CSKA, the Red-Greens scored 13 goals in all competitions — seven of them came from free kicks and corners. Throughout the season, Railwaymen have been pleasing us with unusual and effective standard draws, which, given Spartak's disorganization, can play a key role and influence the outcome of the match. Moreover, some Loko goals from the standards turned out to be decisive: Lucas Fasson's goal helped to snatch victory from Paris NN (2:1), Evgeny Morozov and Artyom Karpukas' goals helped to pass in the Arsenal Cup, and in the match against Akhmat they were completely saved after a disastrous start to the match.
As for the goals from the game, Lokomotiv has prepared a dangerous weapon here: Loko most often builds positional attacks through its right flank, where Batrakov and Prutsev are shifting. Considering that Spartak's left flank is the most vulnerable spot from a defensive point of view, we can again see Ruslan Litvinov in the defensive zone, whom Casedo lifted higher into midfield in the match against Dynamo Moscow. Litvinov's advantage lies in the control of transitions. The Russian is good at helping the two central defenders to extinguish the counter-attacks of opponents, so the profile central defender can play a crucial role in the match. Litvinov himself is motivated for the match.
"To play such matches (with Spartak. — Ed.) — this is a great happiness, because it is a completely different intensity and other emotions. The excitement around such games is always encouraging. We are looking forward to and preparing for the derby," RIA Novosti quoted the player as saying.
A very important factor is the issue of Batrakov's participation in the match, who has now returned to training in the general group and has every chance to participate in the game, said his agent Vladimir Kuzmichev. Despite this, Lokomotiv has fast wingers and speedy Dmitry Vorobyov, who can punish for large open spaces on the field. Based on this, Litvinov's advantage may also lie in neutralizing the counterattacks of the "red-white".
Whether Lokomotiv will be able to take revenge on Spartak for two November defeats in the Russian Cup and gain a foothold in the top three of the RPL, we will find out on April 5 at 19:30 Moscow time on the field of the Lukoil Arena stadium. Inal Tanashev was appointed as the referee of the meeting.
All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
