Struggling Zenit have a great opportunity to edge closer to their place in the knockout stages given that they will be facing a second-string Atletico Madrid side. Having secured the first place in the standings with four straight victories, los Colchoneros arrive in St Petersburg without a number of star players.

Final chance for Zenit

Despite investing considerable amounts of money into the playing squad and signing some of world’s top players, Zenit cannot seem to prove their worth in Europe’s elite competition. This is why I am really surprised to see Luciano Spalletti remain on the bench, but it appears the club chiefs are perfectly happy with team’s domestic domination. Nevertheless, Zenit are in real danger of ruining their title bid in Russian Premier League, with their latest poor run of results allowing their title rivals to seriously close the gap behind them. Following back to back defeats to Spartak and Rostov, Zenit sit tied on points with second-placed Lokomotiv and mere three points in front of Spartak and CSKA, so it is perfectly clear they need to start winning soon. Meanwhile, the team are in a good position in their Champions League group, given they are one point clear of third-placed Porto, although they will have to show a considerable improvement in order to defeat severely weakened Atletico Madrid on Tuesday evening. There are no doubts the hosts have more than enough attacking potential to hurt los Colchoneros, but nobody knows whether their attackers will finally find their scoring boots.

The hosts will be hoping to have star midfielder Danny back from injury, which would mean Luciano Spalletti has fully fit squad to choose from.

Time for back up players to shine

Journalists around the world are slowly running our of superlatives to describe Atletico Madrid’s performances this season, with los Colchoneros impressing in all the competitions entered. And while Diego Simeone’s side remained just three points behind mighty Barcelona in the La Liga standings thanks to the 7-0 triumph over local rivals Getafe, the team have secured the first place in their Champions League group with two games to spare. Three comfortable wins and a hard-fought triumph over very good Porto side have seen Atletico create a seven-point advantage at the top, allowing Diego Simeone to use some fringe players in the remaining two matches. And while that is likely to make the job easier for their opponents, los Colchoneros can still be trusted to give their best, with the back-up players very motivated to play themselves into the first team plans of Diego Simeone. The visitors could have some problems with the freezing conditions in Russia, but they can still be trusted to make the life difficult for Zenit.

First team regulars Filipe Luis, Diego Costa, Tiago Mendes, Arda Turan, Diego Godin and David Villa have stayed in Spain, whereas Cristian Rodriguez and Mario Suarez remain sidelined.

Verdict

It remains to be seen whether Zenit can take advantage of Diego Simeone’s decision to rest his star players, but everything suggests we will be seeing a very open game. And with both sides packed with attacking potential, we could easily see goals galore in St Petersburg.

Top pick: Both teams to score   2.00 (1/1) @ Coral

Alternative pick 1: Half-time draw   2.10 (11/10) @ Unibet

Alternative pick 2: Home win   2.10 (11/10) @ SkyBet