Zenit-2 will face Irkut away

The farm club of the St. Petersburg team continues preparations for the away match against Irkut, which will take place as part of the 26th round of the Fonbet Super League regular season. For Oliver Popovic’s squad, this will be the second consecutive game in the Far East. In their previous matchup, the blue-whites confidently defeated Vladivostok’s Dynamo (75:92).

Irkut currently sits in 9th place in the standings, with 11 wins and 14 losses. Unlike Zenit-2, which has already secured a playoff spot, the hosts are still fighting for a place in the top 8. However, their last three matches have been unsuccessful: Nikolay Shmanov’s team lost to Novosibirsk (60:64) and Barnaul (78:84) on the road, as well as falling to Grozny’s Dynamo (60:71) at home.

Irkut boasts one of the best shot-blocking stats in the league — 2.9 per game (0.3 more than Zenit-2) — and ranks among the top five teams in three-point shooting percentage (32%).

The main offensive weapon for the hosts is forward Andrey Savrasov. He consistently delivers high performances, averaging 13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. In the upcoming match, he could pose the biggest threat to St. Petersburg’s defense.

The first-round meeting ended with a dominant 100:68 victory for the blue-whites. In total, the teams have faced each other eight times in the Super League: Zenit-2 has won five times, while Irkut has triumphed three times.

Zenit-2 head coach Oliver Popovic shared his thoughts ahead of the game in Irkutsk:

After the victory over Dynamo, we are heading to Irkutsk. They play fast and take a lot of three-pointers. We need to maintain a high level of defensive intensity for all 40 minutes with full concentration.

The match will take place on March 2 at 11:10 St. Petersburg time. The game will be broadcast on the Russian Basketball Federation’s website.