Nizhny Novgorod hosts Sochi in round 1 of the Russian Premier League. The match will be played on Monday, July 26th at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium (Nizhny Novgorod)
Nizhny Novgorod is a debutant in the top division of Russian football. In the previous season, the team successfully played in the FNL. The Blues took only third place, but since Orenburg was not allowed to be promoted, they got a ticket to the elite league. 27 wins in 42 rounds and 67 goals scored are not bad indicators of the club from Nizhny Novgorod. Interestingly, if you believe transfermarkt.com, Nizhny Novgorod has the cheapest roster in the Premier League. The total value of the players is only € 10.35 million. Most likely, the team will fight for survival, and it will be extremely difficult to compete in the RPL. Moreover, there was no quality strengthening during the summer transfer window. We will add that the famous striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov became the head coach of the Blues. In his coaching career, this is only a second club for him. The previous one was Tom.
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Sochi will play in the Russian Premier League for the third year in a row. If in the 2019/2020 season the club was one step away from the relegation zone, then the previous RPL draw put the team in the category of strong middle peasants of the championship. Vladimir Fedotov's charges took the final 5th place. The club even was ahead of CSKA in the standings. As a result, the Leopards made it to the European cups for the first time in their history. By the way, their first opponent in the UEFA Conference League qualification quarterfinals is the Azerbaijani football club Keshla. According to the bookmakers, Sochi is a clear favorite in this pair, and it has already proved it in the first home leg, winning 3-0. Let’s note that in the summer PFC Sochi signed experienced left-back Sergei Terekhov from Orenburg and central midfielder of Metz, Viktorien Angban, spending a total of almost five million euros. However, there were some losses as well. Five players left the club as free agents, including experienced striker Anton Zabolotny, who scored 9 goals for Sochi in the 2020/2021 season.
Looking at the big picture, Sochi is the favorite of the confrontation against Nizhny Novgorod, and in theory, the visitors are obliged to beat the debutant of the top division. At the summer training camp, Kerzhakov's men lost to RPL representatives (twice to Rubin and once to CSKA). In turn, Sochi beat Rubin 3-1 this summer. The difference in class is obvious. One of the weakest squads will fight against the strong middle peasant of the Russian championship, which took 5th place a season earlier. We offer you to bet on a clear victory of Sochi.
Prediction for the match: Sochi to win
