Zenit – Nizhnyi Novgorod

Zenit will not smash Nizhny Novgorod in their first match

Russian football returns on 21 June. The Paris Premier Cup kicks off. The pre-season tournament will entertain fans during the break. Zenit, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg and CSKA will take part in the competition. The Pitmen are the obvious favourites for the tournament, but there are many important factors against. Zenit have not yet put together a full squad. The foreigners have been given a bit more time to rest. They will need time to gain their fighting form. The team has completed its main transfer window so far this summer, having signed Zelimkhan Bakayev. The Spartak footballer will add more options in attack. His participation in the game with Nizhny Novgorod is very probable. The footballer has just avoided an extended holiday. Artem Dzyuba has officially bid farewell to Zenit. The game of the club from St Petersburg will now be built on Ivan Sergeyev. There are a lot of problems in defense. First of all, the club still does not have a reliable goalkeeper. Mikhail Kerzhakov remains number one, with no competition. Stanislav Kritzyuk is leaving Zenit. No new goalkeeper has been found, although there were many rumours. There is also no certainty about the centre of defence. Lovren is still injured and will certainly not play. Kazakhstan national team player Alip will probably not be renewed. Dmitriy Chistyakov is injured and will not appear in the Paris Premier Cup. It turns out that Zenit have almost no one to play in defence. We will have to rely on very young players. Nizhny Novgorod were a serious contender for relegation last season. By all accounts the team had the weakest squad among the underdogs, but they remained in the elite even without a transition game. Surprisingly the management changed course after a successful season. Nizhny Novgorod did not give a new contract to Aleksandr Kerzhakov. Now the new coach will be Mikhail Galaktionov, the coach of the Russian youth team. There are no big acquisitions yet. The club has taken players for a wider squad. Vyacheslav Krotov and Dmitriy Rybchinski joined the team. Defender Miladinovic, midfielder Kravtsov and forward Ennin departed from Nizhny Novgorod. The bookmakers see Zenit as the clear favourite. There are questions about this match-up. This is not a match in the RPL, the game will be held in a training format. The Petersburgers will not be able to rely on many of their leaders. Nizhny Novgorod, on the other hand, could try the main roster with their new coach. The visitors clearly have more motivation. There shouldn't be a blowout.