Krasnodar from above: the bulls will try to break away from Zenit

After a long pause for the national team matches, the Russian Football Championship resumes. Already in the 10th round, fans will face off against two of the strongest teams in recent years: Krasnodar, the leader in the RPL, will host Zenit St. Petersburg, the reigning champion. Difficult trips are also ahead for the Bulls' closest pursuers: Spartak will play with the Samara Wings of the Soviets, Dynamo Moscow will meet with Rubin Kazan, and CSKA and Rodina will meet in another new Moscow derby.

Krasnodar – Zenit

Before the three-week break for the national team games, Krasnodar slowed down its winning pace, having drawn three times. This allowed the competitors to come close to the Southerners.

Now the Bulls are only two points ahead of Spartak Moscow, Dynamo and CSKA. And only three points away from Zenit, which closes the top five, which they will have to play against.

Krasnodar still cannot rely on their midfielder Nikita Krivtsov. He started the season brightly in the summer, successfully replacing the long-term leader of the Bulls, Eduard Spertsyan, who left for Saudi Arabia. But at the end of August he got injured. After a recent operation, it became clear that the player would not return until January.

It was partly Nikita's absence that led Krasnodar to lose points in September. And now one of the main intrigues of the match with Zenit will be how Murad Musayev's team managed to play new bundles during the break for the national teams.

Krasnodar from above: Spartak rushed in pursuit of the RPL leader

The victory over Zenit brought the red and white to a clean second place.

Krylia Sovetov – Spartak

The main event for Spartak during the break was the extension of the contract with its leader, midfielder Ezequiel Barco. The Argentinean's previous deal with the Redskins expired next summer. And his loss was fraught for the team, which was already coping hard without the Latin American when he missed several matches at the beginning of the season due to injury.

In the first third of the championship, Spartak almost did not lose points in matches against opponents from the second half of the table. The only misfire was in the home game with Orenburg (1-1). Although in the previous round, Carlos Carcedo's team had great difficulty putting the squeeze on the Voronezh Torch (1-0) on their field, playing for the most part for almost half an hour and scoring the winning goal only in the last seconds.

Now Spartak will have to be tested by the unyielding Wings of the Soviets. Samaritans are currently at the top of the second half of the table — they are in ninth place. Sergey Bulatov's team started the championship unsuccessfully, but then they improved and haven't lost in the last five rounds: three draws and two wins.

Considering that in the spring, at the end of the last championship, Krylia had already beaten Spartak at home (2:1), it can be assumed that the current departure for the red-whites will not be easy either.

Outbid Baltika: Spartak goes to visit a competitor for a place in the top three

Red and white will play in Kaliningrad, Zenit will host Dynamo, and the leading Krasnodar will face Akhmat — the announcement of the fourth round of the Russian Premier League

Rubin – Dynamo (Moscow)

After a bad start, Dynamo won their last five matches and joined the fight for leadership. Now Sandro Schwartz's team is going to visit a strong middleweight who has not lost eight games in a row.

However, Rubin won only twice. Kazan started the championship with a defeat in the first round at home from Krasnodar (1:3), but in the second round they defeated Tolyatti Akron (2:1). The next victory was only in the sixth round over Dynamo Makhachkala (3:1).

Otherwise, there are six draws. And in most cases, with the average people and outsiders who could be beaten. Rubin can only take advantage of an away draw with CSKA (1-1). At the same time, there are also such misfires as away against Moscow's Rodina, which is in the penultimate place in the direct relegation zone (1:1).

These results have led to Rubin being in an outwardly decent sixth place, but far behind the top five. In particular, he is separated from Zenit by six points.

There will also be five more matches in the upcoming 10th round. The tour starts on October 9, when Rostov will host Tolyatti Akron in the first match under the leadership of new head coach Dmitry Kirichenko. Kirichenko replaced Jonathan Alba, who quickly found a job — on October 8, the Spaniard became the head of Rodina, which had previously fired his compatriot Juan Diaz. Alba's debut in a new place will take place on October 11 in the Moscow derby with CSKA.

Also at the weekend, Orenburg will play at home with Dynamo Makhachkala, Voronezh Fakel will meet Moscow Lokomotiv on their own field, and Grozny Akhmat is waiting for Kaliningrad Baltika.