Football Season Guide

Zenit were crowned Russian Premier League champions last season as head coach Sergey Semak delivered the side's fourth successive RPL win. They have bolstered their squad once more over the summer with Mateo Cassierra and Rodrigao joining the club from Sochi, who finished in second place last term. Attacking options were needed as both Yuri Alberto and Artem Dzyuba have left the club - Alberto just on loan. Cassierra and Ivan Sergeev are the two most likely options at the moment to lead the line. It will be interesting to see how Zenit will fare without the record holder for most goals scored in the Russian Premier League (Dzyuba) and the 33-year-old is still yet to find a club after playing at Zenit for the past seven years. However, he did fall out of favour towards the end of last season. Zelimkhan Bakaev replaces Magomed Ozdoev as a depth option in midfield with no other significant incomings or outgoings in this department. Zenit continue to have great depth and quality throughout but do have a change in goal as Stanislav Kritsyuk has left to join Gil Vicente. Daniil Odoevski has started the most games in between the sticks during pre-season so is the most likely candidate to get the number one spot. Ivan arrives on loan from Corinthians, however. The starting line-up is expected to be very similar to last season for Zenit as they begin this campaign and they will expect to be the clear favourites to be crowned champions once again here.