Zenit St Petersburg Vs FC Ufa
Monday, 9 March 2020 – 16:00 GMT Kick-Off
Russian Premier League
Pick: FC Ufa +1.5 (Asian Handicap)
Odds: 3/4
Bookmaker: Bet365
(All betting odds displayed were correct at time of writing: 6 March 2020 at 19:00 GMT)
Preview: Russian champions Zenit remain on course to retain their crown, perched eight-points clear atop the Premier League. FC Ufa harbour aspirations of European football, though, and will have taken plenty of heart from their 1-0 victory in this season’s reverse fixture.
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Table of Contents
Zenit Preview – Champs out to avenge shock loss earlier in the term?
Prior to the long winter break, Zenit (1st – W14 D4 L2) had opened up a commanding lead atop Russia’s Premier League table after winning fourteen of the first nineteen fixtures. Last season’s champions had been beaten only twice – neither, it should be stressed, coming at home – and held a ten point buffer over their closest pursuer. Just one game into 2020, however, and that buffer has been whittled down ever so slightly.
Let’s be clear. Zenit are expected to hold on to their advantage in what is essentially now the home stretch, with only ten more games remaining. It isn’t quite a foregone conclusion though, with the lead down to eight points from Krasnodar in second. While a couple more slip-ups similar to last week’s goalless stalemate with Lokomotiv Moscow in Saint Petersburg, would certainly make matters interesting.
Furthermore, this match-up is one of only a select few that has caused them a problem this season. In August a 1-0 loss away to FC Ufa represented a first of the campaign for Zenit, whose two defeats were both slender 1-0 scorelines. Nobody has thus far bested them in Saint Petersburg however, winning six of ten league encounters there. Rubin Kazan being the last team to do so, way back in December 2018.
FC Ufa Preview – Visitors seeking unlikely league double?
Scoring 16 goals from 20 games, FC Ufa (8th – W6 D7 L7) are not exactly the most expansive of sides currently competing in the Russian Premier League. Indeed, only two teams are averaging less across the whole season. But what they lack up top they can more than compensate for with a well-marshalled, resolute rearguard that has shut out numerous opponents since the start of the campaign, including some of the division’s very best.
One of those ‘very best’ being Monday’s opponents Zenit, having stunned the reigning champions when winning to nil at the Neftyanik Stadium back on home soil last August. That one of four 1-0 victories accrued so far, a disproportionately high value for a team with only six victories altogether. It was, however, a ninth clean sheet, having kept one nearly 50 per cent of the time.
Another stubborn rearguard effort is to be anticipated here. Much like last week’s spirited display away to second-placed FC Krasnodar, holding out for more than an hour before conceding twice late on and ultimately losing 2-0. That one of just two instances in their last twelve match-ups in which more than one goal had been conceded. Moreover, it was a first defeat in six (W2 D3 L1), emphasising how they are anything but straightforward to get the better of.
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Zenit Vs FC Ufa Betting Advice
When at home this season, Zenit have drawn enough times (4 of 10)- including their only match of 2020, drawing 0-0 at home with Lokomotiv Moscow – to make their odds of victory here unappealing. After all they are up against one of the most stubborn outfits in the country, whose defensive numbers are only inferior to the champions (Zenit conceding 9 to Ufa’s 19). Furthermore, it was against FC Ufa that Zenit incurred its first of only two league defeats since the season got underway way back in July.
Zenit Vs FC Ufa – Key Facts
- Zenit remain unbeaten at home in this season’s Premier League, winning six and drawing four of their ten said matches so far.
- Goals are usually in short supply with FC Ufa, whose previous 12 league contests returned Over 2.5 Goals on just two occasions.
- There was a big upset caused when these teams met for the first time in the season, as FC Ufa nullified the defending champions to win 1-0 at home last July.
The hosts have, however, been a class above the rest of the league so far. That could be in evidence again here, having failed to win on just five of nineteen occasions. The approach from the visitors is likely to be containment, as was the case a week ago when restricting Krasnodar to no goals for more than hour.
Under 2.5 Goals has delivered in 8 of Ufa’s 10 away contests, and in 5 of Zenit’s ten home games. Adding Under 2.5 Goals to a Zenit win (17/10 with Coral) could be one way of extracting value from the hosts’ slim odds.
Best Betting Odds for Zenit Vs FC Ufa
Zenit – 4/11 (Bet365)
Draw – 15/4 (Betfair)
FC Ufa – 10/1 (Ladbrokes)
