F.C. Zenit suffered a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal Tula in the Russian Premier League over the weekend, but remained in first place on the domestic table. On UCL Matchday 2, the Russian side thrashed ten-men Malmö FF, 4-0, on home soil. The victory left the Russian outfit in 3rd place with three points after 1W, 0D, & 1L. Despite back-to-back defeats, Zenit has three victories in five games across all competitions: WWWLL. On Wednesday, manager Sergey Semak could appear with the 3—4—2—1 formation, leaving Artem Dzyuba at the top of the design. Dzyuba is the joint-top scorer for the club in the Russian top-flight division with a haul of five goals alongside Sardar Azmoun and the attacking midfielder, Aleksandr Erokhin. On availability, Zenit could be without Magomed Ozdoev, who is sidelined with a sideband strain to the knee ahead of this double-header against the Old Lady. Claudinho made an appearance over the weekend in the defeat to Arsenal Tula as a half-time substitute. The 24-year-old Brazilian is expected to be available for this fixture against Juventus, having been ruled out since UCL Matchday 2.
After sweeping Malmö FF aside with a 3-0 win on UEFA Champions League Matchday 1, the Old Lady picked up a narrow 1-0 win over Chelsea on Matchday 2 despite being without several key players. Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala were missing, with Juve having lost the pair to a plague of thigh injuries in the preceding weekend against Sampdoria. Juventus return to the star-studded circle of champions following the 1-0 win over Roma at the weekend, courtesy of a lone strike from Moise Kean (16’). Juventus has five victories in a row across all competitions: WWWWW. In addition, the Italian side is unbeaten in eight fixtures against Russian opposition. Juve sits at the top of Group H with 6 points after back-to-back UCL victories: 2W, 0D, & 0L. A 4—4—2 formation with Moise Kean and Federico Chiesa in attack is expected when the Old Lady returns on UCL Matchday 3. Dybala hasn’t earned a minute on the pitch since suffering the muscle injury in the game against La Samp. Meanwhile, Álvaro Morata came on as a substitute in the game against Roma and is expected to be available for Allegri on Wednesday. Arthur also made a cameo in the game against Roma at the weekend, - his first appearance this season following surgery before the start of the season.