Russia - Premier League - Sunday

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Tomsk vs Spartak N.

Home side desperately need points to stabilize after the catastrophe in Sankt Petersburg and stop further falling on the standings. The visitors will travel encouraged by the excellent win by the middle of this week against champion Zenit. Once again the club from Nalchik showed how dangerous they are when underestimated, they were losing 3:2 but found the strength to turn over the score and get golden points. Tomsk are much more dangerous at their Trud stadium and over the last few years they have mostly managed to survive winning most of the points in front of their fans. This town is situated in Asia and together with Vladivostok this is the longest journey in Russian Premier League so it is clear why all visitors are exposed to great tension even before the game in Tomsk. Nalchik players are worn out and that they will have a harder time than in Sankt Petersburg. Their defense will have to play much better and the attackers won’t have much space. Tom have no reasons to change their approach, they are extremely aggressive in front of their fans, their combativeness sometimes surpasses tolerance limits so with the pressure and support from the stands home side can reach a victory.

Tom not to lose and under 2.5 goals.

Dinamo Mos. vs Lokomotiv M.

Dynamo wish to reaffirm their place at the top and Lokomotiva want to make up for the numerous failures this season. Dynamo were brilliant against CSKA, they gave their city rivals a lesson of modern football and celebrated 2:0. Tough, organized play, fantastically led by excellent Portuguese Danni in the midfield, there was nothing to object in the Cops' win. Lokomotiv disappointed again, coach Rakhimov faced the consequences of his work in Perm. Dynamo will start the match without the international Kolodin, his absence can compromise the 4-5-1 formation that turned out to be the best choice. Kobelev claims that the team have the strength to handle the absence of one of the best players and they will probably start the match with caution eager to neutralize the dangerous Lokomotiv attack and try to be dominant in ball possession. Lokomotiv had their chances against Amkar but the fans are most worried by the fact that they have no solutions for closed play and they don’t handle defensive teams well. Even the transfer campaign wasn’t done right because expensive back-ups didn’t quite live up to the expectations. Already several games in a row defense has been conceding naively from counterattacks, Ivanovic’s transfer to Chelsea has definitely left some consequences. Lokomotiv shouldn’t be underestimated, when the rivals leave them space they can be very dangerous. The team can show their full potential without the pressure of home ground, after all they are a group of very good individuals who can stand up to anyone. Lokomotiv are unbeaten away, they won Saturn and Shinnik, drew with CSKA.

Lokomotiv not to lose.

FC Moscow vs Terek G.

The visitors from Grozny arrive to the capital after a big triumph over Spartak. The victory was described as one of the biggest in history of Chechen premier-league team and, truth to be told, they themselves don’t even know how they got there. Spartak were dominant, had the lead on halftime but Terek’s three goals in 15 minutes of the second half brought the great turnover. Moscow were defeated at home at the hands of Zenit and Rubin, they drew against Krylya, Dynamo and weak Khimki. Team is sort of undefined, Maxi Lopez and Brakamonte, two excellent Argentineans can’t seem to live up to the expectations of the fans, Moscow scored only 14 goals and they usually have a lot of problems with the attack. During the break Terek replaced coach Nazarenko and the new expert Vjacelsav Grozny marked debutant victory. This former assistant and pupil of famous Oleg Romancev learned a lot in Ukraine and several other countries and if Terek stay in the midtable he will certainly earn a contract for the next season. Terek probably are thinking about next week when leader Rubin arrive to Chechnya which is another derby where the chances of the home side are even higher.

Home win.

Khimki vs Zenit St Petersburg

Champion failed in a postponed game against Nalchik on Wednesday at their Petrovski stadium so now it is clear that they won't manage to defend the title. Khimki got a new coach recently, former international Sergey Juran who was replaced in Shinnik after a weak start. The club from Moscow won only one match in 12 games and they are in a very difficult situation. Zenit are also near bottom but they have four games in hand. Khimki have the best scorer in the league - Eldar Nizamutdinov, he scored seven goals, most of them were winning strikes as in stoppage time last Saturday in Vladivostok. He is not a classic striker but he is very fast and witty and he will certainly be Juran's main weapon in this match. On the other side, Zenit’s best player is thinking more about his future than about the play. However, a day after a convincing win over Tomsk, Arshavin talked with the coach and in the end played against Nalchik. Media are not ruling out the possibility that Gazprom Company may have pressured the coach to include the best player in the starting eleven. Barcelona’s offer was denied and if Arshavin leaves Sankt Petersburg he will probably move to one of Premiership clubs, since only they have enough money to make this transfer. Khimki are not the kind of team that will only defend, nor is their defense capable of handling the charges of the team that scored eight goals in the last two matches. That is why we will see true fireworks at Rodina stadium in Moscow suburbs.

Away win and over 2.5 goals.

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Dinamo moscow 4 - 2 Lokomotiv Moscow

FC Moscow 0 - 0 Terek Grozni

Khimki 1 - 4 Zenit St. Petersburg

Tomsk 1 - 0 Spartak Nalchik