Anzhi vs Rostov preview

August 1, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Anzhi vs RostovTitle chasing Anzhi are aiming to make amends for the dismal start to the season and finally record a league win at the fourth attempt.

Meanwhile, Rostov sit in second place in the standings following a brilliant start, but it remains to be seen how they will fare in the first away fixture of the campaign.

Following a third-place finish last term, Anzhi started the new season with big ambitions, hoping to finally challenge CSKA Moscow and Zenit for the Russian Premier League title.

While keeping hold of all key players, the club from Makhachkala added the likes of Igor Denisov, Aleksandr Kokorin and Alexei Ionov to their ranks, while Christopher Samba returned from QPR.

Anzhi, however, had a pretty poor start to the league campaign, picking up just two points from first three fixtures, with boss Guus Hiddink eventually replaced by former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen.

With the team desperately hoping to return to winning ways, bear in mind home win pays 1.40 (2/5) at Sportingbet.

Key midfielder Igor Denisov picked up an ankle injury in the 1-1 draw with Krylya Sovetov, but he is, nonetheless, expected to keep his place in the starting line-up.

Yuri Zhirkov is out of contention despite resuming training this week, while Aleksandr Kokorin and Andrey Eshchenko remain sidelined.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Gabulov – Logashov, Carlos, Samba, Tagirbekov – Diarra, Denisov – Boussoufa, Jucilei, Willian – Eto’o.

Rostov narrowly escaped the drop last term, ensuring survival only after winning the relegation play-off against SKA Energiya, but the team have since regrouped and prepared well for the new campaign.

The club management decided to sign quite a few new players to ensure the same scenario does not happen again, with Kamil Agalarov and Jano Ananidze the more notable signings.

However, it was the arrival of forward Artem Dzyuba from Spartak Moscow that proved to be the best piece of transfer business, with the 24-year-old largely impressing at the start of his career at the club.

Dzyuba scored no less than 6 goals in 3 opening fixtures to help his side pick up seven points and no doubt Anzhi defenders will pay a special attention to the talented forward.

Having played first three games at home, this will be the first serious test for Rostov, who are 3.00 (2/1) with Paddy Power to extend their unbeaten run to four games.

New signing Aleksandr Vasilyev is unlikely to be in contention, but there are no other worries for boss Miodrag Bozovic.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Pletikosa – Agalarov, Bastos, Djakov, Lolo – Sheshukov, Gatcan – Kalachev, Kanga, Ananidze – Dzyuba.

Unbeatable FREE BET Package!

888Sports have just taken free bet promotions to another level! New customers can now get  £/€/88 in Free Bets + 20 Free Spin Spins + Up to 5 “No Lose Bet”. All you need to do is place of at least £/€/$10 with 888Sports to get up to  £/€/$88 in Free Bets + 20 Free Casino Spins for City Life Slot. And also, make a first mobile bet of at least £/€/$1 with minimum odds of 1.5 to get up to £/€/$5 “No lose Bet” on Mobile.

We Highly Recommend These Places
Share your Opinion!