Russian Football Championship

Russian Premier League enters the final stage. Little less than a month is left prior to the resumption of the competition. Although it is too early to sum up, preliminary conclusions can already be made.

FC Zenit. At the moment, the current champion of Russia occupies first place in the standings and is ahead of its nearest competitor by 6 points. However, it is not as active on the transfer market. According to rumours, on the eve of the elections "Gazprom" was banned from high spending on FC Zenit. Perhaps this was the reason for the failed transfer of Glushakov. Nevertheless, "Zenit" remains the most balanced team in the league, which in its present composition is quite capable of fighting on several fronts. And even the trauma of Danny, which will force him to miss about 8 months, should not greatly affect the team. Under the circumstances, the team will need a newcomer. FC Zenit is actively negotiating with the linebacker of FC Juventus, Milos Krasic, who is known to Russian fans as a CSKA player. Even despite the injury of one of the leaders of the team, Spalletti, "Zenit" is considered one of the main contenders in the championship.

FC CSKA. The epic transfer of Wagner to another club is finally over. FC CSKA is one of the most active players on the transfer market. The club has already signed a contract with three newcomers - Ahmed Musa, Pontus Wernbloom and Kim In-soon. The team of Slutsky occupies second place with 58 points, ahead of Moscow FC Dynamo and Spartak by one and two points respectively. Concerning the prospects of FC CSKA Moscow in spring, one must understand that a lot will depend on the rate of recovery of goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev. After all, it is no secret that the FC CSKA defense with Igor and without him are two completely different things. To date, this is the main headache for the coaching staff. Nevertheless, even in the absence of their main goalkeeper, FC CSKA will remain the main contender in the battle for second place. In case of good luck it could even shift FC Zenit from the top spot.

FC Dynamo. This team is perhaps, the main newsmaker of the season. At first, the player of Makhachkala FC Anji Balazs Dzhudzhak joined the team and now it is being joined by the long-time captain of Kazan FC Rubin, Christian Noboa. Shunin, who received an injury in the last match of the last year, will be replaced by Roman Berezovsky from FC Khimki. Last year, the FC Dynamo coach Sergey Silkin often lamented after matches the fact that he simply had nobody to enhance the game with. We must assume that with Hungarian and Ecuadorian players he will have more opportunities to change the tactics of the game. Undoubtedly, the transfer will increase the attacking potential of the team. But still the line of defence remains the weakest point of the team. The team has a clear bias in favour of attacking moves. Contrary to the previously announced task to take place in the top five, FC Dynamo shows by its transfers that they are hoping for more. The team allows Dynamo to expect to reach the first three places or even first place.

FC Spartak. Having 57 points, FC Spartak Moscow is situated in fourth place, 2 points behind FC CSKA. Currently the team has only one newcomer - Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who returned home after a three-year stay in England. It is not a secret that the team of FC Spartak lacks players capable of accomplishing big goals. Despite the fact that it can beat any team in the league, it might have difficulties playing in the league format with FC Zenit, CSKA Moscow, Rubin and others. However, unlike many competitors, the FC Spartak team is not participating in the Europa League and can take its time to concentrate on the championship.

FC Rubin. Today FC Rubin is one of the major mysteries. Christian Noboa, who has been one of the key players in recent years as well as Lebedenko and Medvedev, left the club recently. Kazan players are very inactive on the transfer market. However, they surprised the football public, having made an exotic transfer of Iranian goalkeeper Ali Reza Hagigi. But most importantly, contrary to various rumors, the team continues to be coached by Kurban Berdiyev. Thus, it is very difficult to talk about FC Rubin. It is unclear what game Rubin is going to show this spring. Will Berdiyev continue applying the attacking style on the team, or return to a proven defensive scheme? It will be extremely difficult to fight for medals for the Kazan team. There are no issues with defense, but there are some questions in the field of attack, since there are no high-quality performers in the attack. Nevertheless, the well-known coaching abilities of Berdiyev are still with the team and it is quite capable of getting a place in the Europa League or even win third place.

FC Locomotive. Pavlyuchenko was the most important transfer of the year. The team is only 5 points from third place, which makes you think that a fight is still ahead. However, there is still an absence of leaders in the team. Pavlyuchenko is theoretically fit for this role, but it is still not clear how he will find the new team. Moreover, a leader is not enough to address serious problems. The team of FC Locomotive is far behind FC Zenit, Dynamo and CSKA. However, it is quite capable of fighting for a Europa League spot.

FC Anji. Along with FC Rubin, FC Anji is one of the most puzzling teams. The team got a new coach, Krasnozhan. On the transfer market, Makhachkala is surprisingly passive. The only new member is the CSKA Moscow ex-player Shatov. After several months the team was joined by Gabulov. A number of players have left the team, including former main goalkeeper Revishvili and left midfielder Dzhudzhak. The changes in the leadership of the club suggest that the club finally decided to develop gradually and not anymore in an intensive way. After last year's numerous transfers, this decision seems reasonable. The new Krasnozhan knows how to put a game together, as he demonstrated in Nalchik in a match against FC Locomotive. There is no doubt that in the spring we will see a whole new "Anji." It is still hard to struggle for medals for "Anji." But the Dagestanis are very likely to fight for a Europa League spot.

FC Kuban. Against the background of all other teams, the team from Krasnodar is the black sheep. Obviously, to be in the top eight for FC Kuban is already a great success, since a year ago this team was playing in the FNL. Without a task to get in the top three, the team of Petrescu can play for fun. Last year the Kuban team made it difficult for many teams. Certainly there are surprises to be expected in spring. But if you look at the big picture, it will be very difficult for the Kuban team to occupy at least fifth place in order to receive the right to play in the Europa League.

Author: A. Sokolov, exclusively for VK