On 18-20 March ROSGOSSTRAKH Russian Football Championship MD 21 matches will be held. After these games a short interval will be taken due to the national teams matches. The competition in the tournament is very tense, so the wrap-up 10 matchdays promise to show hard-edged struggle.

Rostov on the top of the tournament race will have Amkar Perm challenge on Friday. Anji will play against Spartak in Makhachkala on the same day. Both teams need win in this game.

Matches between Ufa and Dynamo, Krasnodar and Lokomotiv will be of equal importance. The remaining matches also do not show a single team which would not need points.

We invite all fans to the stadia! Your favourite teams need your support!

Amkar – Rostov      

18.03.2016  17:00, Zvezda

 Referee: Igor Fedotov (Moscow). In season 2015-2016 – 10 matches – 42 yellow cards – 2 red cards – 3 penalties awarded

Suspended: none – Azmun (4 yellow cards)

Balance of the matches in the Russian Championship top division: +9=7-7 (23:24)

In the first round: 0:1

The next MD will be kicked-off with the match in Perm, where Amkar will be hosting Rostov, which occupies the top position of the tournament table. It is interesting that the balance of the matches among these two teams is for the club from Perm, which won nine of 23 matches and lost 7. Moreover, in the first round of the current season Rostov managed to beat Amkar for the first time since 2012.

The club from Perm lost three times in home games. The latest failure happened in November, when the players of Gadzhi Gadzhiev lost to Rubin.

According to the words of its Head Coach Kurban Berdyev, Rostov does not set global aims for the team, and tries to move forward from match to match. So far such kind of tactics proves itself good. After beating PFC CSKA the club from the Don riverbanks became the leader of the tournament table. Rostov continues to be the best team for conceded goals. And three latest matches were won with clean sheet.

It is interesting to remember that after MD 20 of the last season Rostov was on the last bottom position of the tournament table! And now the club feels confident in the group of leaders.

Azmun will not be able to play in the match against Amkar due to suspension. This is a serious loss for Kurban Berdyev.

Anji – Spartak      

18.03.2016 19:30, Anji Arena

Referee: Kirill Levnikov (St.Petersburg). In season 2015-2016 – 10 matches – 34 yellow cards – 6 penalties awarded

Suspended: Maksimov (4 yellow cards) – none

Balance of the matches in the Russian Championship top division: +4=3-10 (17:27)

In the first round: 2:1

Anji which is struggling to survive is hosting Spartak in Kaspiisk. Spartak is trying to get to the European Cups zone. And the game here promises to be very interesting.

Anji remains the only team which has not won a single home match in the current season! And the club from Makhachkala obtained only 4 points over 10 matches. But the team from Dagestan is much more dangerous in away matches – 11 points. Besides, on MD 1 in Moscow Anji happened to be stronger than Spartak.

One of Anji leader Maskimov will have to miss this game due to suspension. In the current season Anji had only one match without goals conceded.

After a comeback win against Amkar Spartak expects to have a success in the match against Anji. It is interesting, that the matches of these teams in the current season never ended 0:0. So according to the statistics, spectators should see goals in this game. Statistics also insists that Spartak is the only team in the Premier League which was not sanctioned with kicks from 11-meter mark, and which players were not sent-off. We wonder, if the club will be able to keep these indexes till the end of the season.

Ufa – Dynamo      

19.03.2016 14:30, Neftyanik

Referee: Mikhail Vilkov (Nizhny Novgorod). In season 2015-2016 – 12 matches – 43 yellow cards – 2 red cards – 3 penalties awarded

Suspended: none – none

Balance of the matches in the Russian Championship top division: +0=0-3 (1:7)

In the first round: 0:2

The teams from the bottom eight will be playing in Ufa. FC Ufa will be hosting Dynamo. The home team occupies the 14^th position and is 4 points behind its opponent. So win of one team will noticeably improve its position, and on the contrary, the failure close to the finish can stand high.

In the previous MD Ufa interrupted its five-match defeatless run by losing to Lokomotiv in Moscow. It is worth to mention that Ufa won two home matches in the current season, lost four of them and made three draws.

Statistics of the previous matches is for Dynamo. All three matches were won by Dynamo with the total score 7:1.  However, the players and coaches of the team from Moscow should not be thinking about it so far. The team of Andrey Kobelev won only once over the latest 13 matches. Dynamo indexes in the  away matches also do not bring much joy to its supporters – one win, six draws and three failures. Defender Kozlov’s injury adds more problems.

Terek – Ural      

19.03.2016 17:00, Akhmat Arena

Referee: Sergey Ivanov (Rostov-on-Don). In season 2015-2016 – 10 matches – 31 yellow cards – 1 red card – 1 penalty awarded

Suspended: none- none

Balance of the matches in the Russian Championship top division: +1=2-2  (7:9)

In the first round: 3:3

The club from Grozny is one of the best in the Premier League in the home matches. Besides, Terek has the least number of defeats. The latest time the team of Rashid Rakhimov lost at home was MD 30 of the last season. Terek occupies the sixth position of the tournament table, but it is only one point behind Lokomotiv which is on the third position. So the team from Grozny is quite capable to get to the European Cups zone according to the results of the season.

Terek captain Utsiev, who had missed winter training camp due to his injury, started his training. The recovering of this player goes ahead of schedule, but it is difficult to guess when he will be ready to return to the pitch.

Ural is also in the top eight and it is only three points behind Spartak. So the club from Ekaterinburg for sure will not make the life easy for its opponent. Besides, Ural has an away win over Terek in its history.

PFC CSKA – Kuban      

19.03.2016 19:30, Arena Khimki

Referee: Vladimir Moskalev (Voronezh). In season 2015-2016 – 13 matches – 53 yellow cards – 2 red cards – 3 penalties awarded

Suspended: none - none

Balance of the matches in the Russian Championship top division: +10=6-1 (29:5)

In the first round: 1:0

After the failure in Rostov-on-Don PFC CSKA will do its best in order to return the leadership in the tournament table. However, now everything depends not only on the team of Leonid Slutskiy, but also on Rostov, which will be ahead of the Army team in the tournament table because of the result of the match between these two teams, in case other criteria are equal.

In the head of the moment PFC CSKA will play against Kuban, which is struggling to survive in the Premier League. The Army team beat Kuban four times in eight home matches between these teams within the frames of the Russian Championships, four other matches did not produce the winner.

Over six latest matches Kuban is not able to score to PFC CSKA. The last goal to the team from Moscow is dated 10 November 2011, and on 18 May 2013 Kuban gained one point.

The club from Krasnodar won once and once made a draw after the winter break. Though this is not so important, the new players managed to support the squad and to make it stronger. So their supporters could be quite optimistic for the future. But it won’t be easy to take at least one point from Moscow.

Krylia Sovetov – Zenit      

20.03.2016 14:30, Start

Referee: Alexey Nikolaev (Moscow). In season 2015-2016 – 12 matches- 42 yellow cards – 2 red cards – 2 penalties awarded

Suspended: none - none

Balance of the matches in the Russian Championship top division: +12=8-19 (38:58)

In the first round: 3:1

Samara team will be playing their second match in a row in Saransk. The home arena of the team still cannot hold the Premier League matches. So Krylia Sovetov will not have the factor of home pitch in this game.

Samara team already managed to upset Zenit in the current season. And it happened at Petrovskiy Stadium where they won 3:1. But over the recent time the team does not bring joy to their fans – three defeats in a row, seven once over nine latest matches. Krylia Sovetov has scored only two goals since MD 12.  Statistics is not very pleasant, but the team still has some reserve.  However, they are only four points above relegation zone.

Zenit showed exciting performance in the previous MD and scored four goals to Rubin interrupting three-match winless run. Andre Villas-Boas has certain problems with the squad, but the Portuguese coach has a large group of top-class players.  But two goals conceded from Rubin are evidently the result of Garay absence, who will return to the team in indefinite time. Smolnikov has some problems, but Dzyuba in spite of his toe injury will be ready for the match against Saransk.

We would like to remind that Zenit is six points behind Rostov and PFC CSKA.

Rubin – Mordovia      

20.03.2016 17:00, Kazan Arena

Referee: Аlexey Matyunin (Moscow).  In season 2015-2016 – 11 matches – 45 yellow cards – 4 red cards – 3 penalties awarded

Suspended: Georgiev (CDC, 1 match remained) - none

Balance of the matches in the Russian Championship top division: +4=0-1 (12:4)

In the first round: 1:2

Teams from the  9^th and 16^th positions of the tournament are going to play on the pitch of modern Kazan Arena. There is a gap of 8 points between the opponents. The team from Kazan has certain reserve of solidity, but Rubin is trying to compete for the place among the top eight in the second part of the season.

Besides, the team from Kazan will try to gain revenge for the failure in the first round.

In the previous MD the team of Valery Chalyi in St.Ptersburg created a lot of moments at Lodygin’s goal. Kazan team showed interesting performance in the attack, but the team should correct all their mistakes in defense.

Mordovia has only 10 matches to save itself. They are two points away from the promotion/relegation matches, but they still cannot leave the bottom of the tournament table. Over the recent MDs the team of Andrey Gordeev gains points  - they had one win, five draws and only to defeats in eight matches.

Krasnodar – Lokomotiv     

20.03.2016 19:30, Kuban

Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (St.Petersburg). In season 2015-2016 – 14 matches – 71 yellow cards – 2 red cards – 6 penalties awarded

Suspended: Sigurdsson (red card), Kabore (4 yellow cards) – none

Balance of the matches in the Russian Championship top division: +2=1-6 (10:17)

In the first round: 1:2

The central match of the MD will be in Krasnodar, there FC Krasnodar will be hosting Lokomotiv Moscow. Lokomotiv occupies the third position in the tournament table, and Krasnodar – the fourth one. There is only one point between point.

Krasnodar has enough problems with the squad. Oleg Kononov cannot count on defender Sigurdsson and midfield Kabore who are suspended. Central defender Granqvist also has problems with health. So Krasnodar coach will have to urgently find substitutions to the leaders.

Lokomotiv does not have serious problems with the squad. Igor Cherevchenko has a vast range of players in defense and midfield lines. Henty for sure will be fielded again, even though he is just getting used to the new team and the Russian football. Taking into consideration the problems of the home team, Lokomotiv has good chances to end this match in its favour.

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