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Zenit are having injury problems

Zenit are facing a truckload of problems ahead of their two important games against Rostov and Atletico. On the other hand, Rostov have woken up, rested and are going to this away game with full squad

The international break came at the right time for Zenit. They failed to win in four consecutive games in all competitions and instead of setting the matter of league winner, they only made things more complicated. Their last game was against Spartak in Moscow, in front of empty stands, and it ended with them losing 4-2.
Zenit started great, but they didn't make use of everything they could. They had 1-0, they missed some good chances, Hulk missed a penalty, his second in that week. After 20 minutes, Zenit could have been up by 3-4 goals and this came back to haunt them. Movsisyan woke up and scored a hat-trick and Zenit's defense looked ridiculous, especially after Glushakov's goal who single-handedly (or single-footedly?) went through the entire Zenit defense.
 

- It was a beautiful game between the teams who play open football. Spartak got a great result and got three valuable points that hold even  more weight when you consider how the game went on. We have been having some problems lately, our lead has diminished but I am calm - said Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti. 
 
He cannot afford to have these blunders in his next few games. They are expected to win against Rostov in order to restore the peace, but they have another tough game against Atletico Madrid after that, who will come here unburdened by the result, but Zenit cannot rely on that.

- I think there is no point saying we will go into this game against Rostov energetically. We all played for our national teams, there were some long flights, training, sleeping in hotels, and this wears you out. We have another day to prepare and I believe we will look good on the day of the game and that we will win - said Zenit's defender Neto.

Zenit have lots of injury problems in their squad. Alexander Anyukov, Cristian Ansaldi and Nicolas Lombaerts will be missing which means we should see a defensive line that has never been used before in this combination.
 
Midfield is also injury-plagued as captain Shirokov is missing and probably Shatov as well, a player who's been almost a standard first-team player. Vladimir Bystroc has also been injured but his absence won't be felt so much. Danny is very questionable up front, but he most likely won't play and it remains to be seen in what condition Hulk returns from the States.

A cup win against Nazran clearly revitalized Rostov. They got a draw against Rubin in the next game only to get a convincing win against Ural in Ekaterinburg in the last round. They were up by 2 within first 10 minutes, and when Acevedo got the red, the game was put to bed.
 
Artem Dzyuba, a player who Capello didn not call up for friendlies against Serbia and South Korea, scored a brace in this game and sent the best possible response to the Italian coach - two headers after a cross.

- I think we started the game rather well, we scored two fast goals and after that it was just a matter of protecting the scoreline. The second half started with another goal from us and after that it was just a matter of how many more we score. We deservedly won but we were a bit lucky because you don't get a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes of the game very often - said Rostov coach Miodrag Božović.

Unlike Zenit, who couldn't wait for the international break, Rostov ended their momentum. However, little bit of rest won't hurt them, as their physical readiness in this match will probably be better than Zenit's.

- We feel much better mentally ahead of the games against Zenit, CSKA Moscow and Spartak, because of the win against Ural. This break won't fit us very much, as we just gained momentum while it came at the right time for Zenit. We are in for a tough one in Petersburg, but we have to show we are able to fight off even the best of teams - said Rostov's best player Artem Dzyuba who will not return to Spartak, according to the latest information.

- Dzyuba is a great player and he will surely be our main man in the game against Zenit. He has great fighting spirit and we will need that - said coach Božović, putting his trust in his best goal-scorer.

An important thing for him is that he won't have any problems with absent players.
 

Zenit are having lots of injury problems. The first 11 look solid, but the defense might be in serious trouble. They were pretty poor in the last game, when they had Lombaerts and Anyukov, and now things could go anywhere. It can't be said that Zenit players actually got a chance to rest during the international break as they all played for their respective national teams and they are facing Atletico on Tuesday which means they should not be at their 100 % today as they will need to save some energy for the clash against the Spaniards. This will be a good chance for Rostov to get a surprising result, and if Zenit win, I doubt it will be very successful.