Zenit-2 will face Metallurg away

The reserve team of the blue-whites continues its away series across Ural cities and will play tomorrow against Magnitogorsk's Metallurg. The game is part of the 22nd round of the regular season in the Fonbet Super League. Here’s a closer look at the upcoming match.

The hosts have had a rough start to the new calendar year. After an away victory over Chelbasket (71:76) in early January, Maksim Sinelnikov’s squad went on to lose five consecutive games, including a heavy defeat against Dynamo Grozny (53:92) in the last round. As a result, the Chechen team has climbed to 15th place, while Metallurg sits at the very bottom of the standings.

Metallurg’s key players are forwards Nikita Remizov (12.4 points per game) and former Zenit player Maksim Karvanen (11.2 points per game). Additionally, Ural team's point guard Pavel Koltsov leads the entire tournament in steals, averaging 2.1 per game.

Metallurg is a Super League debutant, and so far, the history between the two teams includes only one encounter from the first round. That game took place in Saint Petersburg and ended in a narrow victory for Zenit-2, 80:77.

Zenit-2 head coach Oliver Popovic on the match in Magnitogorsk:

We are expecting a tough game. To have a chance to win, we need to improve our scoring efficiency, stop offensive rebounds, and reduce turnovers.

The match will take place on February 6 and will start at 17:00 St. Petersburg time. The game will be streamed on the Russian Basketball Federation’s website.