Zenit St Petersburg vs Porto preview

September 27, 2011
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

The clash between two evenly matched teams should bring us a lot of excitement at Petrovsky Stadium in St Petersburg, with both Zenit and Porto likely to go for a win here.

Zenit have been in remarkable form this season, but they suffered a small dip in form just as their Champions League campaign was about to start.

After losing to Lokomotiv Moscow in Russian Premier League, Luciano Spalletti’s men succumbed to 2:1 defeat to APOEL, even though they had taken the lead through Zyryanov.

The team have since raised their game, having won three successive games on domestic stage, and Zenit are now no less than 3.00 (2/1) with Bet365 to make it four in a row.

With both Sergei Semak and Vyacheslav Malafeev unlikely to feature, Luciano Spalletti should field similar line-up to that which recorded a 4:0 win over Tomsk at the weekend, albeit without Bruno Alves, who is suspended.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Zhevnov – Anyukov, Lombaerts, Criscito, Lukovic – Zyryanov, Shirokov, Denisov – Danny – Bukharov, Kerzhakov.

Last year’s Europa League champions are determined to make their mark on the Champions League as well, with the first signs more than positive.

After showing a lot of promise in the European Super Cup defeat to Barcelona, Porto managed to beat Shakhtar Donetsk in their opening Champions League game after coming from a goal behind.

The Dragons have since shared spoils with Feirense and Benfica, so they are now looking to return to winning ways.

Seeing that Porto have won all four games they played in Russia, you should know the Dragons are 2.50 (3/2) with Ladbrokes to extend that run.

Boss Vitor Pereira was disappointed to hear that key midfielder Fredy Guarin is suspended for this clash, whereas Cristian Sapunaru misses out through injury.

The good news is that talented winger James Rodriguez return to the side, replacing Varela in the starting line-up. Alex Sandro and Walter are unavailable.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Helton – Alvaro Pereira, Rolando, Otamendi, Fucile – Defour, Fernando, Moutinho – James, Hulk, Kleber.

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