FC Krasnodar – Anzhi Makhachkala. Thomas Giles’ prediction

Krasnodar go into the game against Anzhi on Sunday in terrific form having won their last four games incredibly convincingly by score lines such as 4-0 and 6-0. Anzhi on the other hand are in disarray and look destined for relegation from the Russian Premier League. Krasnodar are still looking to secure a Champions League spot for next season and their recent form, along with Anzhi’s demise, should be enough to see them pick up three points this weekend.

Fyodor Smolov is the joint top scorer in the Russian Premier League with 14 goals and has scored in the last four consecutive games, including four in Krasnodar’s 6-0 thrashing of Ural. The Russian international is looking to cement his place in the starting XI for Russia in time for the upcoming European Championships and knows it will be very hard for national team manager Leonid Slutsky to ignore him if he carries on this rich vein of form. Furthermore, Anzhi have the worst defence in the league having conceded 45 goals so Smolov will certainly fancy his chances.

As previously mentioned, Krasnodar, mainly thanks to Fyodor Smolov, are experiencing a glut of goals in recent matches whilst Anzhi’s defence resembles Swiss cheese. With this being the case we are likely to see more than 2.5 goals. Both of these teams really have to go for the win now if they want to achieve their very different targets for this season.

This is the perfect game to go for a treble as all of these three things are likely to happen.