Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Red Bull Leipzig - Europa League Preview
Published on March 13th, 2018 - 8:21am ESTWritten By: Ariel Noel
Another exciting Europa League Round of 16 match is taking place this Thursday, March 15th at the Saint Petersburg Stadium between Zenit and RB Leipzig.
Red Bull Leipzig, who took the Bundesliga by storm last season finishing second behind Bayern, won the first leg match with the score of 2-1. It looked like the German side were in command of the tie when they went up 2-0, but the Russians managed to score the important away goal towards the end of the game and put the power back in balance.
Zenit St. Petersburg finished the first stage of Europa League topping their group and went ahead to eliminate Celtic in the Round of 32. Roberto Mancini's side are currently 5th in the Russian league standings.
RB Leipzig came third in their Champions League group and crossed over to the Europa League in the Round of 32, where they eliminated the Serie A title contenders Napoli on away goals. Leipzig are currently in 6th place in the German Bundesliga.
The odds for the upcoming match in St. Petersburg are:
Source: Bet365
Time Stamp: March 13th, 2018 7:30 am EST
Odds Subject to Change
Zenit: 31/20
Draw: 23/10
Leipzig: 17/10
To qualify to quarter-finals:
Zenit: 9/4
Leipzig: 1/3
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RB Leipzig, with their trademark lightning-quick counterattack, are the favourites to progress to the quarter-finals. The team midfielder Naby Keita is considered to be one of the most talented young players in the game, while the team striker, Timo Werner, is on the wish list of all top clubs on the continent.
Zenit St. Petersburg will look for inspiration to their Russian international striker Aleksandr Kokorin and the veteran defender Branislav Ivanovic and try and win this match at home. A 1-0 scoreline would suit Zenit just fine in this case.
It will be interesting to see how things play out in Russia on Thursday.
Enjoy the game everyone!