FK Khimki vs. Zenit St. Petersburg 11/1/20 Premier League Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

FK Khimki is hosting Zenit St. Petersburg at Arena Khimki in round 13 in the Russian Premier League.

Khimki is in terrible form, and they have won only 2 games so far this season. In their 12 games, Khimki has scored only 13 goals, while conceding massive 23 goals so far this season. Khimki is in 14th place with 9 points in the Russian Premier League at this time. In their last Premier League match against Rostov on the road, Khimki has had 42% of ball possession, 9 shots on goal, 2 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and a low 63% of the correct passes. It was a tough game for Khimki, and they were lucky enough because Rostov conceded a red card in the 71st minute. Khimki was able to score 2 goals, in the 91st and the 94th minute of the game, and with that, Khimki has won that match 0-2. Koryan is the leading goalscorer for Khimki with 3 goals, while Mirzov, Lomovitskiy, and Idowu added 2 goals each. Kukharchuk has added 2 assists for Khimki so far this season. Kazantsev and Koryan are both injured, and they will miss this game for Khimki. It was a tough start of the season for Khimki, but they are the newcomer to the Premier League after all, but there is a lot of games left for Khimki to stay outside the relegation zone.

Zenit is on a 3-game losing streak, but only 1 of those losses was in the Premier League. Zenit has also played in the Champions League, and they have lost both of those games while conceding 4 goals and scoring only 1 goal. In the Premier League standings, Zenit is in 3rd place with 24 points, 25 scored goals, and 9 conceded goals. Overall, Zenit is the best team in Russia this season, but their dense schedule is stretching them thin. In their latest Premier League match, Zenit was playing against Rubin at home, and they have had 65% of ball possession, 2 shots on goal, 4 corner kicks,  2 big chances created, and a decent 84% of the correct passes. Zenit got ahead in the 26th minute, but Rubin scored 2 goals, and Zenit ended up losing this match 1-2. Azmoun and Dzyuba have both scored 6 goals for Zenit so far this season, while Yerokhin added 5 goals. Dzyuba has also added 3 assists. Malcom and Azmoun are the only two injured players for Zenit St. Petersburg. With another Champions League game ahead of them, Zenit might rotate some players, but they still need a win here if they want to stay close to the top of the Premier League.

Khimki has never beaten Zenit in the past, and I don’t think they will start now. I understand that Zenit’s players might be tired, but Khimki is just a bad team, and Zenit can’t afford to lose another game in the Premier League. Zenit is the favorite in this game, and deservedly so.