Krasnodar – Rostov

The national champion will win on home ground.

The football club Krasnodar has become the winter champion for the third time in a row. In Russia, this status is attributed by football fans to the club that goes into a long winter break as the leader of the Premier League standings. At the same time, the Bulls' current first place looks quite fragile. There are four pursuers just five points behind Murad Musaev's team, among whom Zenit is the most dangerous. The club from Saint Petersburg is considered by bookmakers the main title contender this season. Krasnodar conducted its winter training camp in the UAE, where it took part in the Winter Cup of the Russian Premier League. The most striking event for the Bulls in this tournament was a 3-0 win over Zenit, the saddest was missing out on the trophy in the final round. Rostov did not participate in this tournament but prepared for the second half of the Russian Championship in the UAE as well. There the team played seven friendly matches. On the field of the Ozon Arena the guests will enter as the eleventh-placed team in the standings. Bookmakers have made the hosts the favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.57 on their victory. During the transfer window Krasnodar was not particularly active. The squad was reinforced by only one player — the leader of Pari NN, Juan Boselli. Given the Bulls' balanced squad, the Uruguayan is unlikely to count on a starting place. However there is no doubt that Musaev will regularly field him. Krasnodar also acquired from the upcoming opponent right-back Ilya Vakhania, but the Russian footballer will move to the new club only in the summer. They left the champion's camp: Gaetan Perrin, Danila Kozlov and Gustavo Santos. Despite rumors about Rostov's difficult situation, the team managed to keep all the leaders for the second half of the season. The other thing is that no reinforcements arrived in Rostov-on-Don. This is not only due to the club's financial problems but also to a transfer ban. The current Rostov squad was enough for only eleventh place in the first eighteen rounds. Krasnodar won almost all matches of this championship at home. The exceptions were matches with Zenit and Lokomotiv. In addition, Rostov's last four visits to Krasnodar ended in defeats for the guests. Let's bet on the home side's triumph.