Sochi V Zenit St Petersburg Betting Tips: Zenit & Both Teams to Score – 21 July 2019

Sochi V Zenit St Petersburg

Sunday 21st July 2019 – 19:30 Kick-Off
Russian Premier League
Pick: Zenit and Both Teams to Score
Odds: 13/5
Bookmaker: Bet365

	1	X	2
	19/4	14/5	4/7

* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 18th July 2019 at 21:42)

Preview: The Premier League champions are in action here, as Zenit St Petersburg complete the arduous journey down to Sochi bidding to make it two wins from two in the new season. Their opponents, meanwhile, are still seeking their first points after conceding very late on in their opening game at Spartak Moscow. The smart Fisht Olympic Stadium is the venue for this intriguing clash.

Russian Premier League betting at Betway

Sochi Preview – Premier League newbies to claim biggest scalp?

The biggest transfer in Russian football of recent times wasn’t that of a player, or even a manager, but of a whole football club. And only in Russia could said club be purchased and given an entirely new name, subsequently relocated some 2,300 kilometers to the other end of the country, and earn promotion into the top division within a year of its existence. The history of PFC Sochi in a nutshell.

It will be interesting how the ‘newest’ club on the bloc are received by rival supporters, as this is hardly a ‘started from the bottom now we’re here’ vibe. The players will feel they belong, that is for sure, after securing promotion from the Russian Football National League by finishing in one of two automatic promotion positions. That was largely due to a superb second half of the season in which they lost just one of their final 18 games (W12 D5 L1).

Inside their swanky Fisht Olympic Stadium, opened in 2013 in anticipation for the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sochi went nine games unbeaten between November and the end of the season (W7 D2). Strong form that should stand them in good stead ahead of hosting the first Premier League fixture in their brief history, which conveniently happens to be against the defending champions.

However, it remains to be seen how much that opening day loss away to Spartak Moscow took out of them. To hold out for 90 minutes only to concede in stoppage time, on what was effectively their league debuts, will have understandably hurt even at this early stage of proceedings. To compete as well as they did was encouraging in itself.

Zenit St Petersburg Preview – Champions to flex their muscles against debutantes?

Finishing eight points clear of all their rivals as they secured a fifth Russian Premier League, there was a lot of pressure and spotlight on Zenit as they kicked off the defence of their title at home to newly-promoted FK Tambov. Manager Sergei Semak will have been reasonably satisfied with how his troops handled the occasion, holding out for a 2-1 win despite a goalless first half and a momentary scare late on.

Now the shows goes out on the road, something Zenit didn’t necessarily excel at during the previous campaign. The majority of their title winning form was displayed in St Petersburg, where they won all but two games. On the road, it was a different story altogether. Four teams posted better statistics on their travels than Zenit, whose record of seven wins from 15 games (W7 D3 L5, GF18 GA16) was only good enough for fifth place in the away table.

Many of those successes arrived early into the campaign as well, before their away form took a sharp nosedive. Having begun with four consecutive wins, Zenit would go on to register maximum points on just three other occasions (record in final 11 away fixtures: W3 D3 L6). A big reason for the decline was due to a lack of clean sheets, with lowly FC Ufa the only side unable to breach the Zenit defence in their final seven away matches.

Zenit undoubtedly boast the greater array of talent on show in a fixture they are strong favourites to win, but their form away from home would imply it is far from a foregone conclusion. A recent 3-2 Super Cup defeat to Lokomotiv Moscow, a final that was played in a neutral location, will have only exacerbated the problem.

Betting Summary

The hosts enter this fixture unbeaten in their past nine matches at home, whereas the visitors bring with them a mediocre record of three wins in eleven on the road. The problem is, both sets of form were attained in different leagues. As impressive as Sochi’s form heading into this match is (no loss in nine at home and only two defeats in nineteen altogether), it was achieved against sub-par opposition. Which makes it very difficult to gauge where their current level truly is.

Sochi are an unknown quantity at this level. Whereas Zenit are the reigning Russian champions and that class should ultimately ensure they avoid any upset here. Sochi have scored in eight of their last nine at home, while Zenit have only prevented one of their previous eight away league opponents from scoring. One method of extracting value from the visitor’s price could be a win with both teams scoring.