Krylya Sovetov vs Zenit Prediction: Don’t expect a productive game

Prediction for the RPL match which will take place on July 20. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Last season was much easier for Krylya Sovetov than the previous one. While in the spring of 2023 Samara had to fight for survival in the Premier League, last season they got off to a great start, and for a while they were even in the league's top group, after which, although they slowed down, it didn't prevent them from finishing in ninth position in the standings. Last summer they lost another bright player who left for promotion: Nikita Saltykov moved to Lokomotiv, and Yuri Gorshkov - to Zenit. The Wings have no high-profile transfers so far, so Igor Osinkin will have to do his usual job - to discover young and talented players.

Zenit again approaches the start of the new season in the status of the reigning champion of the country. In the course of the last championship, the St. Petersburg team were practically not leading in the standings, and therefore a new winner should have emerged in the RPL, but in the last two games Sergey Semak's wards defeated Akhmat and Rostov - 5:1 and 2:1, respectively, which was enough for the final first place. Moreover, they snatched a 2:1 win from Baltika in the Russian Cup final, and in their first official meeting after the summer break, the Blue-Whites beat Krasnodar in the battle for the Super Cup 4:2. Now Zenit are the main favourites for the season, and in the off-season they strengthened their squad by signing Evgeny Latyshonk, Sergei Volkov, Yuri Gorshkov and Maxim Glushenkov.

Zenit is the champion of Russia in each of the last six seasons, and therefore no team in the country can consider the St. Petersburg team a convenient opponent. In recent years, Krylia Sovetov have had serious problems in face-to-face confrontation with the Blue- White-Blue Blues, which is why they have drawn only once and lost five times in six previous meetings. And now the Neva team are the clear favourites, as they managed to strengthen the squad in the summer, and in the first official game of the season Sergey Semak's men won the Super Cup of Russia without any problems.

The confrontation between Krylia Sovetov and Zenit has not been very productive lately. Last season, the rivals played four head-to-head meetings, with only 8 goal takedowns (2.00 average per game) - a very modest figure for such spectacular and attacking teams. In the upcoming match we have every reason to expect a more colourful battle, as in the last six meetings with Samara, 24 goals have been taken (4.00 average per game), while St. Petersburg have scored and conceded a total of 29 goals (4.14 average per game) in the seven previous matches.