On Wednesday, November 4, 2020, the Gazprom Arena hosts Zenit St. Petersburg vs Lazio in Matchday 3 of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League.
The Head Referee for this clash will be Artur Soares Dias, the Assistant Referees will be Rui Tavares and Paulo Soares, the Fourth Official will be Antonio Emanuel Carvalho Nobre, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be Tiago Martins with the assistance of Luis Godinho.
As it stands in the Italian Serie A, the Biancocelesti sit in tenth with a record of 3W-1D-2L (10 points); while in the Russian Premier League the Sine-Belo-Golubye sit in second with a record of 8W-3D-2L (27 points).
Expected Starting Lineups
Zenit (4-4-2): M. Kerzhakov; Karavaev, Rakitskiy, Lovren, Zhirkov; Douglas Santos, Kuzyaev, Ozdoev, Barrios; Erokhin, Dzyuba
- Unavailable: Malcom, Azmoun, Driussi, Musaev
- Disqualified: –
Lazio (3-5-2): Reina; Patric, Hoedt, Acerbi; Marusic, Milinkovic-Savic, Parolo, Akpa Akpro, Fares; Correa, Muriqi
- Unavailable: Radu, Immobile, Luis Alberto, Strakosha, Lucas Leiva, Lazzari, Escalante, Djavan Anderson
- Disqualified: –
Prediction
This match takes place after Lazio came back late to win 4-3 against Torino. It was an exhilarating performance from the Biancocelesti after an emotional week that had them miss up to 12 players in their Champions League clash against Club Brugge KV. In the first half, Andrea Pereira opened the score with his first goal as a Laziale. However, the match took a turn of events as Torino scored twice in a span of six minutes through Gleison Bremer and Andrea Belotti to secure their first lead (2-1). Simone Inzaghi’s side responded with a valiant effort in the second half; Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored within the first five minutes off a free kick to level the score (2-2). But once again, Torino responded. Right before injury time, Sasa Lukic capitalized on a Lazio error in their backend to take their second lead (3-2). However, this lead was also short lived as Ciro Immobile scored from the spot in injury time to tie the game at 3-3, and moments afterwards, comeback hero Felipe Caicedo pounced on a loose ball inside the Torino goal to solidify the win.
In Zenit’s recent match against FC Khimki, Andrei Mostovoy scored his second goal this season – after converting a pass from Magomed Ozdoev – to put the Sine-Belo-Golubye up 1-0. Right before half time, Khimki came close to tying the game off a corner kick, but Mohamed Konate’s header went just wide of the goal, and the match went into the break with no change in the scoreline. In the second half, both sides exchanged chances, but it was Zenit who scored late to secure all three points. Yuri Zhirkov placed a beautiful cross into the 18-yard box from the left flank, Aleksandr Erokhin positioned himself in between the defense, and he redirected the pass into the back of the net. Erokhin continues to have a strong season for Zenit as he shares the lead (with Artem Dzyuba and Sardar Azmoun) for most goals (6).
It has been an overwhelming start to the season for Lazio as after starting off their 2020/21 season quite poorly, they have battled injuries and illness to secure results; they are undefeated in their last four matches in all competitions. If the Biancocelesti are to pick up three points against Zenit away from home, they will need to overcome a hostile crowd (that is expected to have 16,000 fans in attendance) by using the motivation from an inspirational win this past weekend.
Zenit 1-1 Lazio
