Out on the rails: will Lokomotiv stop Zenit's championship surge

There will be two super matches in the upcoming 26th round of the Russian Football Championship. Zenit, which has become the leader, will visit the third-placed Lokomotiv. The second—place defending champion Krasnodar will also play in the capital - it will be hosted by Spartak, which has gained momentum and is trying to fight for the Loko bronze. This tour will be unusual, as it will take place in the middle of the week, the clubs will play three matches in a row with an interval of three to four days, and not a week, as usual.

Lokomotiv – Zenit

Loko has been failing for the third spring in a row. After the winter break, the team won only three out of seven matches. And now he is seven points behind the first place and six points behind the second.

The away victory over Orenburg (1-0) in the previous round allows the Railwaymen to stay in the top three, but no more. In order to maintain a relatively realistic chance of winning the championship, Lokomotiv needs to beat Zenit at home.

The St. Petersburg club came out on top at the end of the last round. Now Sergey Semak's team is one point ahead of Krasnodar and has a good chance of regaining the lost championship.

"It's going to be a serious battle, a very unpredictable game in which any result is possible," Nikolai Naumov, former president of Lokomotiv, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — Zenit got a taste of blood after coming out on top and will do everything to gain a foothold in the leading position. But Lokomotiv can give him a fight in this particular game and get at least a draw. The main thing is not to be the first to miss — the railroad workers of death like to find themselves in the role of catching up and opening up in defense, giving space to Zenit's attack. If Loko leads, he is able to win through dedication and organization of the game. But I'm still inclined to think that it will be a draw.

The ex-functionary considers Zenit to be the favorite in the fight for gold and at the same time doubts that Lokomotiv will stay in the top three.

—Zenit is taking its toll on the quality of the players and the depth of the squad," Naumov added. — He may look worse than Krasnodar in terms of his game, but a long bench helps him to be taller in the distance. Almost all the players who come on as substitutes strengthen the game and help to achieve victory in difficult matches, as it was, for example, in the recent away game against Dynamo Makhachkala (1:1). And Krasnodar's draw with Baltika showed that our champion lacks a high-quality bench to strengthen the squad during the meeting. And this, in my opinion, will affect the finish of the season.

Drowned in the Baltic Sea: Krasnodar lost the leadership in the RPL

In other games, Zenit put the squeeze on Makhachkala, Spartak dealt with Akhmat, and the matches on the banks of the Volga ended with the same score.

Spartak – Krasnodar

Krasnodar avoided a 2-2 defeat at home to Kaliningrad Baltic at the end of last week only in the last minutes. This draw led to the loss of the Bulls' lead in the RPL. Now they are going to visit Spartak Moscow, which won five out of seven matches in the spring part of the championship. However, in the confrontations with the top clubs in the RPL, the red-whites succeeded only in the derby with Lokomotiv, over which a strong-willed victory was won two weeks ago.

She allowed us to get closer to the railwaymen, from whom Spartak is only three points behind with five rounds to go. The red and white are on a par with Kaliningrad Baltika in points, losing to it in additional indicators. And in order to continue the fight for bronze, Juan Carcedo's team needs to beat Krasnodar.

Interestingly, both teams continue to compete for the Russian Cup, where they can meet in the Superfinal. This will happen if on May 6 Spartak wins against CSKA in the final of the Path of the Regions, and Krasnodar defeats Dynamo Moscow at home in the second leg of the final of the Path of the RPL (the first away game ended in a 0-0 draw).

—From the point of view of the level of the squad and the organization of the game, Krasnodar is stronger than Spartak and should beat it, albeit not without difficulty," Andrei Chervichenko, the former owner of the red and white, told Izvestia. — Spartak is too unstable and still depends on courage and the realization of moments. Under the current head coach, the team is playing at good speeds, but only until the middle of the second half. And then it deflates. And the main thing is for her to quickly achieve a comfortable advantage, as was the case in the last match with Akhmat (3:1), when Spartak led 3-0 by the 40th minute and could calmly keep this score. It didn't work with Rostov earlier in the round, resulting in a 1-1 draw, while Rostov could have snatched the victory. It will be even more difficult with Krasnodar — this team knows how to improve in the last half hour of the match, and now it will come out angry and maximally tuned after the misfire with Baltika. And it is unlikely to leave Spartak with chances.

There will be six more matches in the upcoming 26th round. CSKA will face Rostov at home. Sochi will be hosted by Krylia Sovetov. Orenburg will play against Pari Nizhny Novgorod on its own field. Dynamo Moscow is waiting for Rubin to visit. Akron will host Dynamo Makhachkala. "Akhmat will play with Baltika in his native walls.