Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Rubin Kazan 10/24/20 Premier League Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Zenit St. Petersburg is welcoming Rubin Kazan to Gazprom Arena in round 12 in the Russian Premier League.

Zenit is in solid form in the Russian Premier League, but they lost in their midweek game in the Champions League against Club Brugge. Zenit is at the top of the table in the Premier League with 24 points, 24 scored goals, and only 7 conceded goals in 11 games. Dzyuba and Azmoun have each scored 6 goals so far this season, while Dzyuba also added 3 assists. Malcom is the only injured player for Zenit at this time. In their last Premier League match against Sochi at home, Zenit was the better team with 57% of ball possession, 7 shots on goal, 2 corner kicks, 1 big chance created, and a solid 86% of accurate passes. Zenit was leading 2-0 at half time, while the final score was 3-1 in favor of Zenit. In the Champions League earlier this week, Zenit was a slightly better team, but they conceded a goal in the last minute of the game, and they ended up losing, which was disappointing for Zenit. I believe Zenit will win the Premier League once again this season, but they will have a harder time doing it because they are stretched too thin, at least at the moment.

Rubin has been hot and cold this season, and while their offense is solid with 16 scored goals, their defense is bad with 16 conceded goals. Rubin has conceded at least 1 goal in their last 6 games, while they scored at least 1 goal in 5 of their last 6 games. Rubin is in 9th place in the standings with 15 points. There are a few good players in Rubin Kazan, but not enough for Rubin to make an impact in the Russian Premier League. Makarov and Despotovic have scored 4 goals each for Rubin thus far, while Kvaratskhelia added 2 assists. There are no injuries in Kazan, but Abildgaard and Makarov are both suspended for this game. In their last Premier League match against Krasnodar on the road, Rubin has had 48% of ball possession, 3 shots on goal, 4 corner kicks, 1 big chance created, and 79% of the correct passes. Rubin has lost this match 3-1. Rubin scored only 18 goals last season in 30 games, while this season they have scored 16 goals in the first 11 games, and judging by that, Rubin will have the better season, but their defense is much worse than last season, and I don’t see Rubin getting anywhere near the Europa League.

The trends are on Zenit’s side in this matchup, and they are the better team here, but since Zenit has played a game earlier this week, and they will play another one next week, I think they might rest some players in this match. Taking everything into consideration, I will pick something on goals here.