Spartak footballers will put up serious resistance to Zenit in the Russian championship match and are capable of winning in St. Petersburg, former sports director of the red-whites Alexander Shikunov told Match TV.

The match of the sixth round of the MIR RPL Zenit – Spartak will take place on August 24 and will start at 17:30 (Moscow time). The St. Petersburg team leads the tournament table with 13 points, Spartak (10) is fourth.

— The whole country is waiting for this match, it will be the central game of the entire first round of the championship. It is clear that Zenit has big losses, but they have two squads, they will find someone to replace Glushenkov, Wendel and Pedro, although they are key players. Without them, it will be harder for the Petersburgers.

Spartak looks great now. Let’s see the level in the match with Zenit, how the newcomers will face a top team, and not the conditional Fakel and Khimki.

The match will definitely not be a test of Spartak’s championship ambitions. Dejan Stankovic has not yet fully brought the team to its maximum capacity, he is still building it, polishing it for himself. It is possible that there will be newcomers. And Zenit has a well-built team, a championship team, plus a huge amount of experience. For both teams, this will be a fundamental match. There will definitely not be a 0:0 score, because both teams have problems in defense.

— Will you be surprised if Spartak wins?

— It is not surprising if Spartak takes 3 points. Although it will not be easy. If there were no losses, Zenit would have an advantage. But Spartak will drink blood, the main thing is not to get scared before the game, — Shikunov told Match TV.

Watch the live broadcast of the match Zenit – Spartak on the Match TV channel, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.