ROSGOSSTRAKH Russian Football Championship MD 24 matches will be held between 21-23 April. The previous MD proved the leadership of Spartak-Moscow, which is 10 points ahead of PFC CSKA, and 11 points ahead of Zenit. The gap looks very impressive, but the Red-whites head coach Massimo Carrera has already announced that it is too early to congratulate the team, as the title is not won yet. Anything can happen over the remaining seven matchdays, especially taking into consideration quite an uneasy schedule for the leader. On Saturday, Spartak is playing an away match against Rostov, and the matches between these teams on the Don river banks are always tough. So there is a possibility that Spartak is going to lose points on this MD.

PFC CSKa and Zenit are behind Spartak, but they still have some hopes for the title, or in any case to the UEFA Champions League zone. Only one point separates the teams and they will have to fight till the end of the season. This is not only prestige at stake, but also a good income.

The competition for the 4^th position is also going to be very tough, as this position gives an opportunity to play in UEFA Europa League. Three clubs are going to play there from Russia – the teams occupying 3^rd and 4^th positions and the Cup of Russia winner. Lokomotiv and Ural are going to play the Cup final. So far both clubs are not in European Cups zone. If Lokomotiv fails, it still have chances to get the 4^th position, but it is too early to speak about it. But the team from Moscow is the favourite of the upcoming final match.

Generally speaking 8 clubs at the same time are competing for the place among the top four! The gap between Krasnodar (the 4^th position) and Rubin (11^th position) is 10 points, but Lokomotiv (5^th position) is only four points behind.

It is interesting that seven matchdays before the finish all teams are having real fight for the position in the table. Five clubs at the same time are trying to be save from relegation from the Premier League. So far Anji has better position. The club from Makhachkala is 4 points ahead of Krylia Sovetov. The club from Samara is one and two points ahead of Orenburg and Arsenal. Tom is noticeably behind everyone and it is the main candidate for relegation.

So the upcoming MD is going to bring to supporters not only interesting and spectacular football, but also a storm of emotions. The season finish will be really remarkable and fantastic.

Dear Fans! Russian Football Premier League invites you to the stadia tribunes! The teams need your support in the wrap-up matches of the season!

Ufa – PFC CSKA

21.04.2017, 17:00. Neftyanik 

Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (St.Petersburg).  In season 2016-2017 – 12 matches – 49 yellow cards – 4 red cards – 2 penalties awarded

Suspended: Nikitin (4 yellow cards) – none

Balance of matches in the Russian Championships: +0=1-4 (4:14)

In the first round: 0:1

Both teams compete for European Cups zone. PFC CSKA is traditionally aimed at UEFA Champions League, while everyone in Ufa will be happy if this young and ambitious club takes a shot at UEFA Europa League.

The team from Ufa cannot win over four recent matches – two draws away and to failures at home – from Lokomotiv and Spartak. As a result – the team of Sergey Semak moved down to the seventh position, however they still have chances to get to European Cups. But they need to win for that!

PFC CSKA has a much more pleasant run – the team does not know failures for 11 matchdays in a row! They had 6 wins and 6 draws. The match against Rostov was the 13^th match of ROSGOSSTRAKH Russian Football Championship of the current season for Igor Akinfeev.

The match is important for both teams, but PFC CSKA looks like favourtie. However, the Army team also has some problems – Vitinho and Olanare scored one goal so far.

Zenit – Ural

22.04.2017 , 14:00. St.Petersburg Arena 

Referee: Alexey Eskov (Moscow). In season 2016-2017 – 14 matches – 48 yellow cards – 3 red cards – 9 penalties awarded

Suspended: none - none

Balance of matches in the Russian Championships: +10=1-0 (24:6)

In the first round: 2:0

Zenit is going to play its first match at the new St.Petersburg Arena which will be hosting 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup matches next summer. Three home games within the frames of the Premier-League will be test matches for the new arena, so the stadium attendance is planned to be increased gradually match by match. The game against Ural is planned to accommodated 20 500 spectators, which corresponds to the capacity of Petrovskiy.

After losing to Spartak Zenit desperately needs a win. The slot in UEFA Champions League is at stake – and this is a big income to the club. So the match against Spartak should be forgotten as soon as possible and they should concentrate on the remaining matches. There is still hope for the title and Zenit has to start doing everything it can in this situation. However it is evident that the team of Mircea Lucescu  in power is far from the one for which Hulk, Garay, Witsel used to play…

Ural has gained 100% of points over the recent 4 matchdays of the Premier-League and managed to get away from the dangerous zone considerably. On this background the team of Alexander Tarkhanov will try to take the fight to the home team.

Rostov – Spartak

22.04.2017, 16:30. Olimp-2

Referee: Mikhail Vilkov (Nizhny Novgorod). In season 2016-2017 – 13 matches – 44 yellow cards – 5 red cards – 1 penalty awarded

Suspended: none – none

Balance of matches in the Russian Championships: +8=8-29 (45:83)

In the first round: 0:1

The leader is going to have quite an uneasy away match in Rostov-on-Don. The gap from the pursuers can shorten on this MD. However, the current Spartak has proved not once that it can win even the most difficult games.

For now the teams played 22 matches in Rostov-on-Don within the frames of the Russian Championship and Spartak has 10 wins, 8 failures and only four draws. Moreover, the teams managed to score 69 goals to each other, i.e. more than 3 goals per match.

But this time the forecast of many goals could not be true. Because over the recent seven matches Rostov played in a draw six times – 0:0, this is the result of the recent 5 matches of this team. Rostov conceded goals for the last time in ROSGOSSTRAKH Russian Football Championship on 30 November 2016 from Ural. However, the club from the Don river banks does not score a lot as well – only six goals over 7 matches. They all were scored to Tom.

At home Rostov has not tasted the bitterness of defeat in the current season yet. It had seven wins and four draws over 11 matches.

Defeatless run of Spartak consist of 7 matches. The Red-whites had two away defeats out of the three defeats in the season. However, even having a 10-point gap from the closest competitor the players and coaches understand perfectly that the title is not won so far. Massimo Carrera has problems in the attacking line – the match against Zenit was missed by Ze Luis and Luiz Adriano due to their injuries. Probably one of them will be able to recover till Saturday.

Lokomotiv – Amkar

22.04.2017, 16:30. Lokomotiv 

Referee: Sergey Ivanov (Rostov-on-Don). In season 2016-2017 – 12 matches – 46 yellow cards – 2 red cards – 7 penalties awarded

Suspended: I.Denisov (4 yellow cards) – none

Balance of matches in the Russian Championships: +12=8-5 (36:17)

In the first round: 0:0

The teams which a next to each other in the tournament table are going to play in Moscow. Due to the rapid progress of Lokomotiv guided by Yury Semin, the club moved up to the 5^th position and is ready to get ahead of Krasnodar.

Over the recent 11 matches Lokomotiv won six times, had four draws and lost only once. We should not forget also about qualification to the Cup of Russia final, and winning it can crown even not the best season.

Amkar is a home team in the current season. 25 points out of 33 were gained in Perm. As for the away games – they are not so successful so far. In any case the players of Gadzhi Gadzhiev is not going to surrender without putting up a fight.

Terek – Anji

22.04.2017, 19:00. Akhmat Arena

Referee: Roman Galimov (Ulan-Ude). In season 2016-2017 – 5 matches – 16 yellow cards – 1 red cards – 1 penalty awarded

Suspended: none – Parshivlyuk (4 yellow cards)

Balance of matches in the Russian Championships: +4=3-4 (12:15)

In the first round: 0:0

Regional neighbours Terek and Anji are going to play in Grozny. The teams have different tournament tasks. The club from Grozny is only five points behind Krasnodar, which occupies the 4^th position in its race for European Cups zone, and Anji is doing its best in order to keep away from promotion\relegation matches. For now the club from Makhachkala is only 4 points ahead of Krylia Sovetov, so Anji needs to gain points.

Tom – Orenburg

23.04.2017, 12:00. Trud

Referee: Sergey Karasev (Moscow). In season 2016-2017 – 9 matches – 38 yellow cards – 3 red cards – 4 penalties awarded

Suspended: none – none

Balance of matches in the Russian Championships: +0=0-1 (1:3)

In the first round: 1:3

A very important match for both teams will be played in Tomsk. Tom will be hosting Orenburg and both teams are struggling for survival. The club from Tom has only 13 points and it is six points behind Orenburg which occupies the 14^th position. So this match can become a decisive one for Tom. Failure will nullify all chances at all.

Orenburg also count on win. The Premier-League debutante team is planning to keep its right and to play the following season in this tournament as well. So far Orenburg is in promotion\relegation play-offs zone and only one point ahead of Arsenal.

 Krylia Sovetov – Rubin

23.04.2017, 14:30. Metallurg      

Referee: Vladimir Moskalev (Voronezh). In season 2016-2017 – 6 matches – 30 yellow cards – 1 red card – 2 penalties awarded

Suspended: none – none

Balance of matches in the Russian Championships: +4=7-14 (24:45)

In the first round: 0:3

The match of principle will be played in Samara between Krylia Sovetov and Rubin. Any win now is important for the club from Samara, so the team guided by Javier Gracia will have to make a lot of efforts to keep the attacks of the home team. The win over Anji brought Samara club closer to the safe place.

The results of the recent matches are not for Kazan team. Over five game they managed to gain only two points and scored only 2 goals. However, Rubin lost to Krylia Sovetov the previous time in 2013 and before that in 2007.

Krasnodar – Arsenal

23.04.2017, 17:00. Krasnodar 

Referee: Alexey Matyunin (Moscow). In season 2016-2017 – 9 matches – 44 yellow cards – 3 red cards – 2 penalties awarded

Suspended: none – Rasic (red card)

Balance of matches in the Russian Championships: +2=1-0 (6:0)

In the first round: 0:0

Krasnodar is hosting Arsenal at its excellent new stadium. And Arsenal is desperately struggling for survival. This match is not less important for the home team, as the team of Igor Shalimov needs to get a place in European Cups zone for the next season.

This match is a good chance for Fedor Smolov to prove himself and to raise his chances for winning the scorers’ race.

As for Arsenal, the team of Sergey Kiryakov has the same problems – attacking line is not very good, and it will be difficult for them when Krasnodar defends its goal.

Dear Fans! We invite you to the stadia! Your teams need your support!

Russian Football Premier League and European Legal Service within the frames of joint programme – “Stadium is our Home!”is happy to announce about an opportunity to call to this company (tel: +7 (495) 727 09 01 or Skype online.els24.com) and to receive free legal advice related to any legal matter before, during and after the game.

Lawyers of European Legal Service, which is the leader on the market of distance services, will always help you in solving all your legal matters.

When applying there you should tell the password: “I am an RFPL supporter”.

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