Zenit is preparing for the match with the Norwegians in in full force. Rosenborg's flank forward Jann-Eric de Lanley is injured. There are no disqualified. We predict the lineups and consider the confrontation between the players of the teams of Roberto Mancini and Kore Ingebrigtsen.
Andrey Lunev - Andre Hansen - 1:0
In the goalkeeping line, Zenit has an advantage: Lunev is generally more reliable than the 27-year-old Hansen. In particular, in this Europa League, the goalkeeper of Rosenborg conceded after he unsuccessfully hit the ball, and sometimes he acted too confidently and risked when playing with his feet. Hansen has good statistics (4.8 shots on target per goal), but Lunev's figures are higher both in the LE and in the Premier League. By the way, in the qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup, a candidate for the Norwegian national team was included in the application for matches five times. national team but never entered the field.
Branislav Ivanovic - Vegar-Eggen Hedenstad - 2:0
In the Europa League there is no limit on foreign players, and Mancini, apparently, will give practice again a large number foreigners, will repeat the "basis" from the match with Real Sociedad. However, it is possible that the coach will decide to give Ivanovich rest before the game with CSKA, and Igor Smolnikov will appear on the right from the first minutes. The 26-year-old Hedenstad is a shooting guard who is capable of plugging forward and making dangerous crosses. At the same time, he is Rosenborg's leader in tackles in the championship (2.4 on average per 90 minutes).
Emanuel Mammana - Tore Reginiussen - 3:0
Missing the match against Tula Arsenal by Mammana was hardly related to his mistakes against Anji, most likely it was the defender's flight to Argentina and back. Emanuel will return to the "base" to neutralize the ex-player of the London "Arsenal" Bendtner together with Mevley. The 31-year-old Reginiussen is the absolute best in Rosenborg in clearances (7.7) and interceptions (2.4). However, with Zenit's high-speed attacks, it will be difficult for him to keep up with his opponents.
Micha Mevlya - Jorgen Shelvik - 4:1
The performance of the freshest newcomer of the blue-white-blue Mevli leaves an ambiguous impression so far. Both in Zenit and in matches for the Slovenian national team, against the backdrop of a generally confident game, he makes at least one serious mistake, leading to a scoring chance or a missed goal, which reminds Luis Neto. 26-year-old Shelvik excels at positioning, but under pressure can become confused. It is possible that instead of him in the center of defense of the guests will play Johan Bjordal or Jakob Rasmussen.
Domenico Criscito - Birger Meling - 5:1
The captain of Zenit should show by example that a bad match against Arsenal was an accident, wake up partners and make the team angry. Krishito is no less to blame for the Tula goal than the Ivanovic-Mevlya pair, since he allowed the transfer to Kirill Kombarov. Meling is a sharp, fast, aggressive defender. At the same time, the 22-year-old player is still noticeably lacking in experience, he often loses position, leaves freedom to the opponent and makes mistakes when working with the ball.
Matthias Kranevitter - Morten Konradsen - 6:1
In order for Zenit to work effectively in the center of the field, next to the Argentine “opornik” a midfielder with a good medium and long pass is needed. Christian Noboa may appear in the "basis" of the hosts for this game, while it will not be surprising if the Ecuadorian comes out instead of Kranevitter himself. 27-year-old Konradsen is capable of playing anywhere in Rosenborg's top three. In any case, this is a football player with a lot of work, aimed at tackling the ball.
Leandro Paredes - Mike Jensen - 7:2
To open the defense of Rosenborg, it is necessary that the ball, after passing it to Zenit, be quickly delivered forward to the attackers - behind the backs of tall stoppers. The main hope here is for Paredes, whose "radio-controlled" passes will be waiting for Kokorin with Driussi, as well as high-speed Rigoni. The Dane Jensen is one of the key figures in the ranks of Rosenborg. The 29-year-old Norwegian captain is great with the ball and is agile and uncompromising enough for a player who plays the role of a playmaker.
Daler Kuzyaev - Anders Tronnsen - 8:3
Kuzyaev played more than an hour with Arsenal, although Stanislav Cherchesov said that the Zenit midfielder played for the Russian national team amid injury. If Kuzyaev does not get into the “base” at Rosenborg, Oleg Shatov or Yuri Zhirkov will appear on the left. The Norwegian coach, in turn, chooses between 22-year-old Tronnsen and 23-year-old Marius Lundema. These are also very efficient players, like Konradsen, who are trying to provide quality tackles and keep the ball.
Emiliano Rigoni - Milan Jevtovich - 9:3
The speed of Rigoni will stumble upon the speed of Meling's left-back - we are looking forward to an extremely curious confrontation of fast players on this flank. However, the "two-legged" Rigoni can take a place on the left side: it all depends on Mancini's tactical decisions. The 24-year-old Serb Jevtovich seemed more like a runner than a creative winger, and he doesn't look like he has any cunning dribbling either. Perhaps he will be replaced by a sharper and more productive Paul-Andre Helland in the championship.
Sebastian Driussi - Samuel Adegbenro - 10:4
We continue to look forward to Driussi taking the next step in his progress, improving his implementation and scoring in Europe as often as in the Argentine League. Driussi's chances of playing Rosenborg are perhaps higher than those of Dmitry Poloz and Artem Dzyuba, especially if Mancini does not change 4-4-2 to 4-3-3. Adegbenro is a fast forward who loves to dribble and attack the gate on his own. The 21-year-old Nigerian is remembered for a double by Ajax, so he needs an eye and an eye.
Alexander Kokorin - Niklas Bendtner - 11:5
In the last three matches of the Europa League, Kokorin scored a double, and, of course, the guests are primarily afraid of him. It is intriguing how the Zenit and top scorer Rosenborg (15 league goals) Bendtner. The story of Kokorin with champagne is nothing compared to the scandals that a Dane nicknamed Lord fell into while drunk. However, at Rosenborg, the 29-year-old Bendtner is good, he works hard for the team, clings to the ball, gives smart passes and scores.
Roberto Mancini - Kore Ingebrigtsen - 12:5
Rosenborg is one step away from winning gold in the national championship, so Ingebrigtsen has the opportunity to completely focus on the Europa League. The Norwegians play 4-3-3 under him, they are unlikely to deviate from the usual scheme in the match with Zenit. If the opponent is surprised by anything, it is a tricky corner kick. Ingebrigtsen does not have such titles as Mancini, however, he is quite an experienced specialist.
Zenit - Rosenborg
Stadium:"Saint Petersburg"
Match start: 20:00
Arbitrator: Tobia Stiller (Germany)
St. Petersburg "Zenith" confidently won two opening matches on group stage Europa League and now he is waiting for the first round of confrontation with Rosenborg. Successful games against the Norwegians will allow the St. Petersburg team to advance to the playoffs ahead of schedule and be able to rotate the lineup, because Zenit is in the lead in the national championship, but still allows misfires, allowing competitors to approach at arm's length.
Many are already crowning Zenit, saying that they will certainly win gold medals, nodding at unstable competitors who cannot impose a fight on St. Petersburg. Team Mancini really has the best composition, the players of the Russian national team are sitting on the bench, who would strengthen any RFPL club However, it is impossible to go through the tournament path without losses. “Zenith” after a frisky start began to lose points more and more often, it became more difficult for the St. Petersburg team to break into the defense of teams that spend all 90 minutes in their own penalty area, counting on one counterattack.
"Anji" punished "Zenith" twice, but still missed the victory in the last minutes, "Arsenal" did not repeat this mistake, inflicting the first defeat in the RFPL on Mancini's team. All loss points “Zenith” – games against outsiders or middle peasants. Tula "Arsenal", "Anji", "Dynamo", "Ural" and "Rostov" - all these teams were closed in their penalty area. Also, Zenit lost to the FNL team in the Russian Cup. On strong teams the mood is completely different, so there is hope that in the Europa League, St. Petersburg will be able to show a high-level game.
Rosenborg is a strong European team that celebrates its centenary this year. The current champion of Norway. He started his European path this season from the second qualifying round Champions League, where he beat the Irish Dundalk, but then lost to Celtic and flew into the Europa League. There, the lot brought the Norwegians to the finalist of the last tournament, Ajax, whom the “little trolls” (as they call Rosenborg) beat twice (1:0 and 3:2). At the group stage, the team was first defeated by Real Sociedad, and then beat Vardar, now it has three points and third place.
Most famous player- Niklas Bendtner, who famously traveled around Europe. In addition to Arsenal, he played for Birmingham, Sunderland, Juventus, Wolfsburg, and came to Norway from Nottingham Forrest. At Rosenborg, the Dane revived his career, scoring 15 goals in 24 league games and scoring twice in the Europa League.
Interesting Facts confrontation:
The teams previously played each other in the 1/16 finals of the UEFA Cup 05/06, Zenit won both matches (2:1 and 2:0)
Rosenborg have always scored in Russia, but they have always lost (2-1 to Zenit, 5-1 to Dynamo in 1992 and 4-1 to Spartak in 1995). In six games against Russian teams they managed to win only once (against Dynamo, but the sum of two matches the Muscovites went further).
Zenit, in addition to Rosenborg, met with the Norwegian Valerenga in 1985. Both matches were won 2-0.
Oleg Shatov can play his 50th match in European competition.
Approximate compositions:
"Zenith": Lunev, Mevlya, Ivanovich, Mammana, Krishito, Paredes, Kranevitter, Kuzyaev, Rigoni, Dryusi, Kokorin.
Rosenborg: Hansen, Hedenstad, Meling, Reginiussen, Jensen, Konradsen, Bendtner, de Lanlay Shelvik, Lundemo, Adegbenro.
Match prediction
“Zenith” is the favorite of the match, St. Petersburg must confidently beat their opponent and take a step towards the playoffs. Bookmakers offer 1.30 odds for a Zenit win, 5.80 for a draw, and 10.00 for Rosenborg.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev
Two weeks have passed since the first match between the teams, in which Zenit confidently beat Rosenborg (3:0). After the match with the Norwegians, the St. Petersburg team has not yet won, moreover, they lost their leadership in the championship, losing heavily in the home match to Lokomotiv (0:3). Now we can say with confidence that Zenit is in crisis. The fight against Rosenborg could be a lifeline for Mancini to pull the team out of this situation, because entering the European Cup spring can wake anyone up.
The Norwegian team will try to surprise Russian club, because in the first match it was not possible to do this. "Rosenborg" without fail need to defeat the "St. Petersburg" in order to keep the chances of qualifying from the group. In the Norwegian championship, Rosenborg is doing just fine. Three rounds before the end of the championship, they are leading with an advantage of eight points, and they can direct all their efforts to today's match.
Lineups Rosenborg - Zenit
At Rosenborg, the match against Zenit is forced to miss two main players, team midfielder Andres Konradsen, and attacking midfielder Jann-Erik de Lanlay.
Daler Kuzyaev did not fly to Norway with the team. The player was injured in the match against Lokomotiv. This loss will be the only one for Mancini, and Paredes will appear in the center of the field instead of Kuzyaev.
The problems of the St. Petersburg team are more related to problems in the attack. In the Russian championship, Zenit has not been able to print the gates of its rivals for three consecutive matches.
Rosenborg:
Hansen - Hendenstad, Reginiussen, Skjelvik, Meling - Jensen, Luendemo, Trondsen - Zhevtovich, Bendtner, Adegbenro.
"Zenith":
Lunev - Smolnikov, Mevlya, Mammana, Krishito - Kraneviter, Paredes, Erokhin - Rigoni, Kokorin, Driussi.
Forecast for the match "Rosenborg" - "Zenith"
Most likely the fate of the match will be decided by one goal scored. Rosenborg must take control of the game and try to score an early goal.
Bookmakers see Zenit as the favorite of the match, the victory of which is quoted with a coefficient 2,00 . The victory of Rosenborg is estimated by the coefficient 4,00 , and a draw 3,60 .
The bookmakers' views on the number of goals scored in the match differed, so the odds for the total match total are almost equal. The probability that teams will be able to score more than 2.5 goals in a match is estimated by the coefficient 1,85 , less than 2.5 goals - 1,95 .
Considering not much good shape Petersburgers and the practically solved problem of leaving the group, we can assume that Zenit will not be very active. Forecast for the fight from the editorial site
So, on Thursday evening, the Europa League returns, and we are waiting for the Zenit match against the Norwegian Rosenborg.
The upcoming fight, I think, is of great strategic importance for the Petersburgers. “Zenith” needs to take three points in this meeting in order to almost certainly guarantee a ticket to the playoffs of the tournament, which in the future will allow you to feel more confident in the domestic championship, where Mancini's team has recently had difficulties.
Zenit lose points in two games in a row, and if at first there was an away draw 2:2 with Anji, then a terrible home defeat against Arsenal followed, the reasons for which we tried to consider in this article.
Zenit has no margin of safety and a tangible advantage over its pursuers, and therefore the team needs to quickly solve its problems in the Europa League in order to fully concentrate on the domestic arena.
I would like to believe that Roberto Mancini also adheres to this opinion, and therefore, in the duel with the Norwegians, he will certainly put up the main squad and refuse adventurous experiments with the squad, which have already cost the Blue-White-Blues several lost points in the Premier League.
First of all, I'm waiting for the return to the basis of Paredes, who was the team leader at the start of the season, but then ended up on the bench. First due to an injury, and then, apparently, because of the coaching decisions of Mancini, who for some reason decided that Leandro was not an unconditional member of the base, but a rotation player. It seems that Matthias Kranewitter is more suitable for this role, whose football is still quite unconvincing and unstable - the defensive midfielder alternates bright matches with frankly disastrous ones.
In addition, I would like to see Rigoni in action from the first minutes, which is also used by Mancini only occasionally. Meanwhile, in those fights in which Emiliano came out at the base, he looked very, very good and even scored important goals - as was the case against Real Sociedad.
In general, Mancini, most likely, will again have no other choice but to release an almost completely legionnaire squad, flavored with only a couple of Russians. Lunev, Kuzyaev and Kokorin. All other performers with a domestic passport are still extremely ambiguous, and therefore trusting them with a place from the first minutes in the game, where you need to take three points and nothing else, is not the best idea.
What can be said about the opponent of “Zenith” – “Rosenborg”? This team is now confidently leading the Norwegian championship, and 5 rounds before the end of the season has a 10-point advantage over the closest pursuer. Simply put, Rosenborg's title is already in his pocket.
In Norway, Rosenborg have been undefeated since August 20, when they unexpectedly lost 0-1 at home to Haugesund. At the same time, Rosenborg won 3 of the last 4 matches in the Norwegian league with a score of 3: 0, and in another match, a rather unexpected draw at home 1: 1 with Sarpsborg was again recorded. Such unpredictable results suggest that Rosenborg is to some extent a mood team. On her day, she likes to take out rivals in one gate, at the same time, if things are not going well, then at least take out the saints. And in some ways, you see, it looks like Zenit, which this season, if it fails, so with a bang - home defeats 0:1 from Bnei Yehuda and Arsenal are evidence of this.
In the Europa League, "Rosenborg" things are also ambiguous. In the first round, the Norwegians were beaten 4-0 by Real Sociedad in Spain. And then at home they won 3:1 "Vardar". Although this last match, of course, is not an indicator due to the frankly low level of the Macedonian team. So the real test, which can confirm Rosenborg's claims to reach the playoffs, is waiting for the Norwegian team on Thursday in St. Petersburg. And “Zenith” need to be prepared for the fact that the opponent will tune in to this meeting as the last fight.
Estimated compositions.
