By this point in the Champions League, Zenit St. Petersburg probably expected to have four points and one of the top two positions in their group. Instead, they have two losses from two matches, and nothing but a win will do for Luciano Spalletti’s side on Wednesday night.
Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Anderlecht, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Preview and TV schedule
Zenit have no points from their first two matches and are in dire need of a victory over Anderlecht.
Their opponents, Anderlecht, put in a good showing against AC Milan but were handily beaten by Malaga last time out. They’re a strong side, but they’re suffering with a number of injuries to key forward players and might lack the firepower to score away from home.
That is, assuming Zenit’s defense doesn’t gift them goals. They were the better side against Milan during the last round, but errors at the back gifted the Rossoneri a massive three points. The performance was an uncharacteristic one, however, and a repeat would be very surprising.
Zenit St. Petersburg injuries and suspensions
Out: Danny
Anderlecht injuries and suspensions
Out: Dieudonné Mbokani, Matias Suarez, Cyriac. In Doubt: Guillaume Gillet, Milan Jovanovic
Anderlecht are thin up top, especially if Milan Jovanovic isn’t fit to start. They’ll need more than decent hold-up play from Tom De Sutter up top if they want to pull off an upset in St. Petersburg. Zenit have a clean bill of health, save for Danny, who has not played this season because of a long-term knee injury.
Match Date/Time: 9 p.m. local, 12 p.m. ET
Venue: Petrovsky Stadium, St. Petersburg, Russia
TV: FOX Soccer (U.S. - English), FOX Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), Sky Sports 2 (U.K.), Sportsnet World (Canada)
Online: FOX Soccer 2 Go (U.S.), Sportsnet World Online (Canada)
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