We have looked ahead to the matchday 15 fixtures of the Russian premier Liga to bring you the key plot lines to look out for.

Zenit vs Nizhny Novgorod: Kerzhakov faces former teammate Semak 

Regardless of the result of this weekend - and indeed this season - Aleksandr Kerzhakov’s status in the eyes of Zenit fans will remain unimpeachable for his record-breaking goalscoring exploits in the Blue-White-Sky Blue shirts as a player. His all-time high tally of 133 RPL goals was only broken by Artem Dzyuba last season, and of course he was central to the 2010 and 2011/12 title wins as club top scorer both times - alongside his opposite number in the dugout this weekend, Sergey Semak.

Zenit in the present day are perhaps even more powerful than they were during the head coaches’ playing days, although Semak has not been without hurdles to negotiate. Although his side are still league leaders, and still top scorers in the RPL so far by some distance with 10 goals more than the next most deadly attack, they have not had it all their own way, as their goalless draw away to rock-bottom Ural Ekaterinburg last weekend showed. While it was their first league game without scoring, it was also only their second clean sheet all season. 

Nizhny Novgorod have slipped off the early-season form that saw them cause a fair few shocks - most of which were notably on the road - and undoubtedly face an uphill battle to claim anything from this trip to St. Petersburg. Four consecutive defeats leaves them with the worst run of results in the RPL as things stand, but they do have some crumbs of comfort; only Zenit themselves and Lokomotiv Moscow have lost fewer matches away from home, for example.

How they will manage to hold out against the attacking might of Sardar Azmoun and Dzyuba, who have scored just one goal fewer than Nizhny Novgorod have managed all season as a team, is a tricky question to say the least. Can Kerzhakov pull off another miracle on his old stomping ground?

Krasnodar vs Spartak: Struggling powerhouses battle of nerves

Midtable is not a familiar setting for a club of Spartak Moscow’s stature, especially after their energetic campaign to finish in the Champions League places last season. Rui Vitoria has guided his men to some notable results of late, such as a creditable 1-1 Europa League draw away to Leicester City days before a spirited 10-man comeback in the derby against Lokomotiv, but the brutal truth is valiant points alone are not enough for teams that want to challenge for honours.

Krasnodar are battling their own demons after three consecutive defeats in all competitions. A humiliating 3-0 defeat to Kuban in the Russian Cup was bad enough, but to be humbled at home by Krylia and then edged out by supposed European-chasing rivals Dynamo, all without scoring a single goal in that run, is not something that can be passed off lightly. The team’s goal drought is partly demonstrated by Jhon Cordoba’s struggles; after five goals in his first six appearances, the Colombian forward hasn’t registered one in his last seven league games.

All is not lost for either side of course. Krasnodar are still only two points behind fifth-placed CSKA Moscow, and four from the European places. Unlike their visitors this weekend they also don’t have any midweek distractions to balance with league commitments, and still boast the joint-tightest defensive record with 13 goals conceded in 14 matches.

Spartak meanwhile have shown plenty of heart in the latter stages of games to earn derby draws against Dynamo and Lokomotiv. They will need to call on more of those reserves though as they battle to end their joint-longest winless streak in all competitions for almost two decades.

CSKA vs Khimki: Can Khimki break CSKA hoodoo?

The competitive nature of this season’s Russian Premier Liga could be explained in various forms, but perhaps one of the most telling is how tightly packed all the teams are; no gap between teams in the table is greater than two points, except for Zenit at the top, meaning the Armymen are well in the hunt for a return to Europe after missing out for the first time in two decades in the summer.

Their history is intertwined with their visitors this weekend, and the tale is one that favours CSKA heavily. While they took up residency at Arena Khimki they welcomed the luminaries of European football as their landlords battled their way in the lower leagues, but more directly, they have never lost a competitive match to Khimki. Five wins in the last six encounters mean they have the (relative) momentum, although they are coming off the back of two straight defeats.

Khimki are in a full-on fight against relegation as things stand, lying just one point and one place above bottom side Ural. They have conceded 16 goals away from home, the joint-most in the league, and still have just a solitary win to their name in almost four months. Igor Yushchenko’s task is stark as he awaits the first goal scored in his caretaker reign, yet alone his first point on the board.

The picture doesn’t get much better when looking at their away record. One point earned from the last six games on the road, with those five defeats all coming with at least three goals conceded. However, they have drawn two of their four visits to face CSKA in the top flight, including last time at the VEB Arena. 

Sochi vs Rubin: Conference of European hopefuls

Everything can change in a couple of matchdays, but there is little doubt which of Russia’s first two entrants into the inaugural UEFA Conference League has recovered better from the agonising disappointment of playoff defeats. Fired by Mateo Cassierra’s electric form - six goals in the last five RPL matches - Sochi are flying even higher than last campaign up in second, leading the charge to dethrone Zenit. Their consistency in front of goal is frightening for their rivals, as CSKA found to their cost last time out as Sochi raced into a 3-0 lead inside 16 minutes.

Curiously enough though, they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 10 RPL matchdays, so there is a glimmer of hope for Rubin to exploit potentially. Both previous meetings between these two in Sochi have seen both teams score as well.

By contrast though, Rubin are finding it harder to hit those same high notes from last campaign. Leonid Slutsky’s side have only won two of their last 10 league fixtures, and come into this trip off a damaging 5-1 loss to Rostov - their heaviest defeat in over two years. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hasn’t scored since July, while only one player (new signing Anders Dreyer) has more than two goals to his name in the whole squad.

With the way teams have played a kind of hopscotch in the league table this campaign already, however, it would still take a bold man to bet against Rubin throwing a spanner in the works for Vladimir Fedotov’s side.

Photo: Aleksandr Stupnikov / Spartak Moscow; Vyacheslav Evdokimov / Zenit St. Petersburg