National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Zenit or Fakel that keep their silverware dream alive.
It's quite the trip for Fakel when visiting Zenit as the cities are 1200 kilometers apart.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Zenit and Fakel.
Zenit form and stats
Last season, Zenit's Russian Cup journey ended in the quarter-finals.Zenit have played 4 Premier League games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 4-0-0 (wins-draws-losses).
Nothing to worry about in defence for Zenit, as their goalkeeper Ivan Quaresma da Silva has completely shut out the opponents for 207 minutes in the Premier League.
Zenit's previous fixture was a Russian Cup game also played at home, finishing 2-0 vs Fakel. The home team are looking to build on that result.
A strong away win before that one, visiting Ural and winning 4-0.Defensively Zenit have been outstanding, conceding less than half a goal on average per home game in the league (1 in 4 games). For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Fakel form and stats
They also participated in Russian Cup last season. This ended in the group stage.The story so far for the visiting team on their Premier League travels is 0 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats.
Two away games in a row for Fakel, who will hope to get a better result in this one after losing 0-2 vs Zenit in the Russian Cup.
A loss against Spartak Moskva was the result prior to that, in a Premier League home game.The visiting Fakel have scored more than one goal per away game in the league so far. The grand total is 5 goals from 4 games. For Fakel, more than two goals on average per game end up in their own net.
Head 2 Head
The participants have faced each other already this season, with the result Zenit - Fakel 2-0 written in the official records. Cassierra loves to meet Fakel and have scored 2 goals in these games.
Top Goalscorers
  M. Silva de Oliveira 4 goals |  A. Mostovoy 3 goals | I. Sergeev 3 goals |
Zenit missing players
Fakel missing players
| Zenit | Fakel | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 16 | 12 | Won | W | 5 | 11 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Drew | D | 2 | 5 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Lost | L | 7 | 9 | ||
| 51 | 33 | Scored | S | 19 | 33 | ||
| 13 | 5 | Conceded | C | 22 | 33 | ||
| 92% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 92% | ||
| 84% | 92% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 93% | 72% | ||
| 48% | 62% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 64% | 56% | ||
| 28% | 31% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 21% | 24% | ||
| 4% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 14% | 16% | ||
| 44% | 38% | BTTS | BTTS | 64% | 56% | ||
| 52% | 62% | Clean Sheets | C S | 14% | 28% | ||
| 12% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 21% | 24% | ||
| 6.8 | 7.3 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4 | 4.2 | ||
| 2.9 | 2.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.2 | 4.4 | ||
| 1.1 | 0.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.2 | 2.3 | ||
| 2 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 16.6 | 20.4 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 11 | 12.6 | ||
| 5.9 | 8.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 5 | 5.1 | ||
| 34% | 32% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 28% | 30% | ||
| 8.2 | 6.6 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 15.6 | 15.7 | ||
| 2.8 | 1.2 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 5.4 | 5 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Zenit | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 17 |
| 2 | Spartak Moskva | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 13 | 16 |
| 3 | CSKA Moskva | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 14 |
| 4 | Krasnodar | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 14 |
| 5 | Dinamo Moskva | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 13 |
| 6 | Rostov | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 13 |
| 7 | Sochi | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 13 |
| 8 | Lokomotiv Moskva | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -1 | 9 |
| 9 | Krylya Sovetov | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | -2 | 9 |
| 10 | Akhmat Grozny | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 8 |
| 11 | Khimki | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -4 | 7 |
| 12 | FK Nizjni Novgorod | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -4 | 6 |
| 13 | Orenburg | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 13 | -8 | 6 |
| 14 | Fakel | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -7 | 4 |
| 15 | Torpedo Moskva | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | -14 | 1 |
| 16 | Ural | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -14 | 1 |
