Next Tuesday, 4th of November 2014, a motivated Zenit St. Petersburg will entertain Bayer Leverkusen at Petrovsky for the UEFA Champions League, on a match during which the Russian team will certainly look to avenge their defeat on German soil two weeks ago and, at the same try, to regain the first place of Group C, which is currently being led by their opponents.

Last Saturday, Zenit cemented their position at the top of the Russian Premier League table by defeating their closest contenders, CSKA, 1-0 at Arena Khimki in Moscow. The match was far from easy for André Villas-Boas’ team, especially after the break, when the home side piled on the pressure and forced Zenit to “offer” some of the possession that usually characterizes their game, opting instead for quick counter-attacks looking for catching their opponents off guard. With this win, Zenit increased the gap to CSKA, who is currently on the 2nd place of the table, for seven points, and, at the same time, extended their unbeaten record for another match. The team from the city of Peter the Great has been impressive on the RPL so far with 10 wins and 2 draws from 12 league matches. They also have the best defence line in the league with just six goals conceded, as well as the best attacking line with 34 goals in just 12 matches.

Despite their recent defeat against the modest Arsenal Tula for the Russian Cup and the hypothetical crisis scenario portrayed by the media, Zenit remain rock solid on their way to title and most credit goes to former Chelsea's and Spurs’ manager, André Villas-Boas, who lifted the team’s morale after the numbness under Spalletti’s stewardship.

As for Bayer Leverkusen, they are probably not enjoying the best of moments, as they seem to be losing some of that initial stamina they displayed earlier this season. After experiencing colossal difficulties to overcome Magdeburg in the middle of the week for a vibrant Pokal match, Leverkusen were defeated last Saturday by Hamburger SV, who are slowly escaping from the relegation zone of the table. These two last convincing performances might condition the German side when they visit the Petrovsky Stadium next Tuesday, something that is certainly worrying the team’s boss, Roger Schmidt.

Although they are currently at the top of Group C, Bayer Leverkusen are not favourites for the next Tuesday’s clash. By playing home and be being more used to the Russian rough weather, Zenit are firm favourites to claim the three points in the middle of the week.

Zenit

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - WLWLD

Bayer Leverkusen

Stats: W-3 L-1 D-1

Recent Form - LWWWD

Possible Line-ups

Zenit (4-3-3) - Lodygin - Anyukov - Garay - Lombaerts - Criscito - Javi Garcia - Witsel - Fayzulin - Danny - Hulk - Rondon

Bayer Leverkusen  (4-4-2) - Leno - Donati - Spahic - Toprak - Jedvaj - Papadopoulos - Bender - Hakan Çalhanoglu - Son - Bellarabi - Kiessling

Prediction

Zenit 2 Bayer Leverkusen 1