We have rounded up some intriguing highlights to look out for on matchday four.

Spartak host Lokomotiv in first Moscow derby of the season

On Sunday Spartak Moscow host the first capital derby of the season against Lokomotiv Moscow with both sides unbeaten so far after three matchdays. Spartak were left frustrated again in Ufa as they boasted 70% possession, and had over three times as many shots on goal as their hosts - including Jordan Larsson’s penalty that Aleksandr Belenov saved - but could only register once where it counted: on the scoresheet itself. Marko Nikolic’s RPL unbeaten run since starting as Lokomotiv manager at the start of June was kept intact thanks to a late Fedor Smolov equaliser after a toiling performance against Ural Ekaterinburg.

Last season Spartak finished top of the Moscow clubs’ mini-table with the most wins (3), fewest defeats (1), most goals scored (8) and fewest goals conceded (4) against their city rivals, despite finishing in the lowest position in the overall Russian Premier Liga table. They outplayed Lokomotiv at the RZD Arena to win 3-0 - the only occasion one side scored more than twice in a Muscovite derby last campaign - before being held to a 1-1 draw at home. Their long-term record in this particular fixture is mixed; in the last nine meetings, Spartak have lost just once, but they have won just twice in the last eight RPL matches in which they’ve hosted Lokomotiv.

Aleksey Miranchuk has been in good form in recent clashes against city rivals. He has scored in all of his last three RPL games against fellow Muscovite clubs, including this exact fixture last season to earn a draw at the Otkritie Arena. Jordan Larsson has been involved in a goal in each game so far this season, and bagged two goals away to Lokomotiv last season to really kick-start his Spartak career; before that derby double, he had only managed two goals in nine RPL appearances. 

Slutsky under pressure to avoid equalling unwanted record

Leonid Slutsky will go down as one of the most successful managers in Russian football history after winning three RPL titles, two Russian Cups and two Russian Super Cups at CSKA Moscow - whom he faces this matchday as an opposition manager - and twice reaching the Champions League knockout stages. Only Oleg Romantsev, Valery Gazzaev and Yury Semin have picked up more major Russian honours.

Since returning to the RPL after spells in England and the Netherlands, however, he has struggled to replicate his earlier success. In 14 league games since taking over at Rubin Kazan in the winter, his side have only won four games and scored 10 goals. After their agonising 3-2 defeat to FC Sochi midweek, when former Rubin player Christian Noboa scored and assisted Ivan Miladinovic to complete a late turnaround in the closing moments, they have now gone six league games without a win. 

Slutsky has endured three previous runs of six winless league matches - twice at Krylia Sovetov Samara and once at Vitesse Arnhem - but the only time he went longer without a league victory was at Hull City in the English second tier. After the seventh consecutive game without a win, he left the club by mutual consent.

Lutsenko to show Dynamo Moscow what they’re missing?

When Arsenal Tula welcome Dynamo Moscow on matchday four, there might be a few furtive glances cast from the visitors to the hosts’ talisman. One of the major surprises of last season was the sparkling form of 33-year-old Evgeny Lutsenko in front of goal. The forward recorded his best-ever personal tally with 15 goals in 28 RPL appearances for Arsenal Tula in the 2019/20 campaign. His feat becomes all the more remarkable given that over the course of his RPL career, he has only averaged one goal every four and a half games, while for his entire professional league career the ratio drops further to one in five games.

Arsenal’s gain was certainly Dynamo’s loss; last season’s haul was one more than he managed in three campaigns - including one in the second-tier FNL - combined for Dynamo Moscow, for whom he played immediately before joining Arsenal Tula last summer. His previous best came almost a decade ago in the FNL for SKA Khabarovsk during the elongated transitional season when he scored 13 in 44 appearances. 

Lutsenko’s task to continue his superb summer will not be easy though. Dynamo Moscow are unbeaten this season, and remain the only side yet to have conceded a single goal, but in the last meeting it was Lutsenko who scored game-winning goal for Arsenal at VTB Arena.

Photo: Konstantin Rybin/RPL; Dzhalil Gubaidullin/Rubin Kazan