Zenit vs Standard Liege preview

August 25, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Zenit vs StandardZenit are in full control of the tie after the 1-0 triumph in Liege, but Andre Villas-Boas’ side will want to continue their impressive winning run.

Standard produced a decent performance in the first leg, but could not prevent a home defeat, meaning they are now in a very difficult situation.

Despite the heavy investment in the playing squad over the last few years, Zenit have utterly failed to live up to their potential, and were in turn slapped with underachievers tag.

Things seem to have changed with the arrival of Andre Villas-Boas, even if the Portuguese coach failed to lead his side to the league title last term.

The club didn’t sign too many players this summer, only adding Ezequiel Garay and Javi Garcia to their ranks, but that proved to be a very good decision as it allowed the team to hit the ground running early on.

While recording a comfortable triumph over AEL in the Champions League third qualifying round, Zenit won all five league fixtures, scoring 17 and conceding mere 2 goals in the process.

And having also defeated Standard in the first leg, it is hardly surprising they have been made 1.30 (3/10) favourites to win the return match.

Andre Villas-Boas will have Axel Witsel back from suspension, while Domenico Criscito should be recalled to the starting line-up.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Lodygin – Smolnikov, Garay, Neto, Criscito – Witsel, Garcia – Hulk, Danny, Shatov – Rondon.

Not so long ago, Standard were regular in Champions League group stages, proving a tough not to crack even for Europe’s top sides, but a lot has changed since.

The squad have been getting weaker summer after summer and once again they enter a new season without a host of star players.

Having failed to sign proper replacements for Imoh Ezequiel, Michy Batshuayi, William Vainqueur and Daniel Opare, les Rouches have experienced all sorts of problems at the start of the new campaign.

While they were somewhat fortunate to eliminate Panathinaikos, Standard have now picked up just one point from last three league fixtures, which is enough to suggest they are nowhere near the desired form.

And after losing the first leg to Zenit, les Rouches have little to hope for ahead of the return match against their in-form opponents.

Ronnie Stam, Julien de Sart, Yuji Ono, Martin Milec and Adrien Trebel are all sidelined, while Mehdi Carcela is lacking match fitness.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Kawashima – Ciman, Texeira, Arslanagic, Van Damme – Louis, Faty, Lumanza, M’Poku – Watt, De Camargo.

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