Zenit St Petersburg vs Malmo Prediction & Betting Tips - Champions League

Prediction published on 27/09/2021, 06:17  by James | Modified on 28/09/2021 at 17:15 in Champions League Predictions

Two sides looking for their first points of the UEFA Champions League campaign meet in Group H on Wednesday night when Zenit St. Petersburg host Malmo. Both clubs had dismal matchday one experiences, Zenit losing 1-0 at Chelsea and Malmo taking a 3-0 home pasting from Juventus. Despite being a giant club in Russia, Zenit have now lost seven of their previous eight UCL games. They hope that their first-ever meeting with Malmo can improve that record. Zenit's poor form in Europe stretches further back, though, with only three wins from their previous 18 matches in European competition. At least things are going swimmingly in the Russian Premier League, where they are top and unbeaten after nine games. Zenit won their four home matches in the RPL. Their most recent UCL point came from a 1-1 home draw against Lazio last season.

While Zenit came close to upsetting Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, there was no threat of an underdog story in Sweden. Juventus thoroughly outclassed Malmo, a wake-up call for coach Jon Dahl Tomasson. If their European campaign is to continue beyond this group stage, they need to pick up results against Zenit. Malmo are unbeaten in the three games since losing to Juve, winning the most recent fixture 5-1 over the weekend. A similar prevalence of goals is unlikely here. We anticipate a cagey game between two teams who know the importance of this fixture. Back against both teams scoring.