Zenit's youth team will play in Samara

Zenit U21 starts the January away match series with a trip to Samara. The team, coached by Roman Knyazev, will play against the local Samara-2 on January 9 and 10.

At the halfway point of the season, our opponent is in 10th place in the standings, with 8 wins and 16 losses. The Volga team had a poor finish to the previous calendar year, securing only one victory in four away games in Minsk and Khimki.

The main player of today's Samara-2 is Ivan Kasyanov. On average, in this season's VTB United Youth League, the forward scores 18 points and grabs 8.2 rebounds per game.

Compared to all participating teams, Alexander Polinkevich's players lead in several statistical categories. Samara players are the most frequent on the ball (46.1 rebounds per game), including on their own board (29.7 rebounds). Additionally, they are the best in the tournament in terms of block shots, with an average of 5.6 per game.

Previously, in the framework of the Youth League, the teams have faced each other 40 times, and the balance is currently even, with each team having 20 wins.

Zenit U21 head coach, Roman Knyazev, about the upcoming away games:

We're starting the new year with an away trip to motivated opponents. Both teams didn't start the championship well, but by the end of the first round, they found their rhythm. We need to prove that our home victories were not accidental and get back into game shape after the break.

The matches with Samara will take place on January 9 and 10 at the MTL Arena-2 court. Both games will begin at 12:00 St. Petersburg time and will be streamed on the official VTB United Youth League website.