Zenit St Petersburg vs FC Copenhagen Predictions

Zenit are in control of their Europa League group as they head into the final 2 rounds of fixtures. They sit on 8 points from their 4 games after 2 wins and 2 draws and they know a win against Kobenhavn here will send them through to the knock out stages of the competition.

Kobenhavn have it all to do if they want to progress any further in this season’s Europa League, they sit 3rd in the table and are 2 points behind 2nd placed Slavia Praha and 3 points behind top of the table Zenit. Their trip to Russia to face the table toppers is an all or nothing for the Danish side, as a defeat would all but end their campaign.

Zenit are the dominant force in Russia at the moment as they top their domestic league table by 5 points after 15 rounds of fixtures and they top their Europa League group also. Wins against Slavia Praha and Bordeaux at home and draws away at Kobenhavn and Bordeaux have placed the Russian giants at the top of the pile. They have won both of their home games in the group stages, whilst in qualifying for the Europa League they beat Dinamo Minsk 8-1 and Molde 3-1 on home soil.

Kobenhavn also are currently top of their domestic league as they lead the Danish Superliga by 3 points after 17 games. They have it all do here in the Europa League however as their 2-1 win at Bordeaux is their only win of the group stages. Draws against Zenit and Slavia Praha and their loss at home to the Czech side have left them 3rd in the table and with work to do.

Zenit are a dominant force at home in the Europa League, their home form is simply phenomenal. They have won 26 of their last 30 home games in the competition, with just 2 draws and 1 loss in that run. The run started with a 4-0 win over Bayern Munich and in that time they have beaten teams like Liverpool, PSV, Anderlecht, Real Sociedad and Celtic. They will take some stopping by the Danish side on Thursday.

Kobenhavn’s away form on paper doesn’t look too bad but when you delve deeper you find they can beat the weaker sides but struggle against the better sides. They have lost just 3 of their last 11 on the road in the competition but those were against the only 3 decent sides they have played in that run, 2-0 vs Ajax, 2-1 vs Lokomotiv Moscow and 1-0 vs Atletico Madrid.

The bookmakers have priced Zenit up at just under even money, a price we think is very generous considering their home form. We will be taking full advantage of that with max stakes on the Russians to win here. On the correct score front Zenit do concede a few goals at home, despite winning. They have won 3-1 on 4 occasions in their last 12 home games in the competition and it’s a scoreline we like here again.